Like You'd Know How It Works
by MsHermia
Summary: SPOILER FOR ENDGAME COMING. Straight after the battle is won - or lost, depending on your perspective - Peter tries to convince the Avengers to save Mr. Stark by going back into the Quantum Realm. Endgame Fix-it
1. Chapter 1

_(author's note: I'm not a fan of what they did in Endgame, storywise as well as characterwise. The time travel stuff imo is cheap and leaves too many loopholes, so here I'm simply using one of them to fix the damn thing. Be aware: there's a lot more of Peter grieving in this than I originally anticipated.)  
_

**Chapter 1**

"I told you, it doesn't work like that!" Hulky-Banner's right arm had been immobilized with a sling hanging around his neck. Therefore, it was his left that rubbed the bridge of his nose. He then waved it dismissively as if all was said on the matter and the conversation over. _Nope._ Peter was nowhere near done.

Someone had organized this room at Metro General hospital for them to sit and talk. Sitting was not an option for Peter though. He couldn't bear to sit. He couldn't bear to have anyone look at his injuries either, not when there were more pressing matters to attend to.

"You said that whatever we do in the past will not change our present!" Peter's fist hit the table with a crash. They simply weren't listening. His face felt grimy and tight in places where the dirt from the battlefield stuck to the tears he had cried over Mr. Stark's body. Maybe he should have thought of washing the traces off his face before confronting a few of the Avengers and Doctor Strange. It might have made him seem a little more collected. A little more rational. "That's what you just said!"

"Yes, yes that's true-"

"Then let's go get him! We can just use some particles, go to 2012 or 1970 where Mr. Stark is running around already wearing the quantum suit and… and we just bring him here. Hell, let's pick any time, Thanos didn't even need a suit to travel. Neither did Gamora or Nebula after her fake copy took hers."

"That's not how it works, kid!" Rogers stepped closer to him, his hand reaching for Peter's shoulder. He sidestepped him before the Captain could touch him and turned to face him.

"Oh, shut up, Rogers. Like you of all people understand how it works!" Peter's voice was vibrating with anger. Why in the world were his mentor's supposed teammates so set against giving Mr. Stark a second chance? He had risked everything for everyone else. Again. And this time lost it all. His fiancé. His future. His life.

"It's not what Tony would have wanted."

"Again, Captain. Like you of all people would know what Mr. Stark wanted!"

"I've known him for quite a bit longer than you have, kid!" Rogers visibly pulled himself together. He fought to keep his expression calm, but Peter wasn't looking for calm. He would escalate this situation without a second thought to stand up for Mr. Stark.

"That means nothing! Last time I checked, Mr. Stark wouldn't have trusted you to tell him the truth about whether it's raining outside, let alone with what he would have wanted!"

"Hey now..." Hulky-Banner stepped closer to Peter, arms spread out. But Peter had no interest in being conciliated.

"There's really no need for this tone, boy," Rogers intervened. "I understand that this is difficult for you to grasp at this point, but a lot has happened while you weren't here. Things between us had changed."

Peter's eyes were fixed on the Captain. His pulse was racing. Was Rogers really that naive? Did he not know Mr. Stark at all? He let out a humorless laugh.

"He might have tried to move on or even told you, that he was over it and that what happened... what you did was in the past... for his sake. But he would have never trusted you with anything important... with anything that mattered to him! Never!"

Rogers' hands ball up into fists. A red flush was creeping across his face. Hulky-Banner had stepped between them, but the Captain towered behind him, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. Oh, Peter would get him to snap. He would poke him as often as Rogers would need it to lose his cool. He would get the satisfaction to... punch him in his perfect teeth.

There was a sting deep in his heart, real physical pain caused by the mere thought of Mr. Stark's voice, their banter in the lab, just being around him. He took a step back from Banner, a shiver running through him. He couldn't cry now. Not again. They'd never take him seriously if he would cry.

Peter tried to control his heart rate, took a few deep breaths. Mastering his anxiety and the stress of the situation. Just like Mr. Stark had told. Urgh, nope. He couldn't think about that right now! His mind was racing. He needed to convince them. He needed their help to bring Mr. Stark back. There was no way that he could figure this out on his own.

"They are right, Peter. Time is a difficult construct. There are rules that have to be followed and when we break them, we might make a mess. An enormous unnecessary mess, that we can't take back. Tony deserves better than that." Strange had taken a seat at the opposite end of the room, furthest away from him. The sorcerer seemed to know what was good for him.

"You said, we would win." Peter was proud, how strong his voice sounded. With all of them against him, against Mr. Srak, he was fighting a losing battle against his emotions, but he couldn't let his weakness show. "14 Million possible futures and you said we would win this one!"

"Peter, Tony was trying to save the Earth. To save the universe. He won."

"Bullshit!" His breath hitched. He wanted to scream at the wizard, rage at him, but if he did, his voice might finally break. He might finally break. His eyes landed on Colonel Rhodes, who had been quietly observing, which in itself ticked Peter off. He was Mr. Stark's friend! How was he not speaking up for him?!

"Pete..." he sighed, leaning back in his chair. "Messing with time travel any more than we did... we don't know what ripple effect it would have for the alternate reality that splits off. Or... or whatever it is that happens. It could cause more pain, more suffering. You know that Tony wouldn't want that."

Peter's mouth fell open in shock. "We don't know that! We don't know that anything bad would happen at all or if anyone would be any worse off! We do know that this world right here is suffering now! Miss Potts is suffering right now! We can change that! We can get him back! They deserve better! Mr. Stark deserves better!"

Rhodes cast his eyes to the ground, softly shaking his head. "We can't play God. It's not right, Pete."

Shock let him gape at Rhodes. How... how could he say that? How could he...

"I... how can you give up on him... You're supposed to be his best friend!" Peter turned away from him facing the others again. "What is wrong with you people?! How can you still not care? After... after everything he has done for you?!"

Rogers' clenched his jaw before he spoke up again. "Listen, kid, I get that you feel guilty that Tony risked everything he had to get you back, but screwing around with the Quantum Realm any more than we already have is not an option. Tony knew that there was a chance that he could die. Yes, this sucks and we do care. Nobody here wanted to lose him, but we did. That is the harsh reality we have to deal with now."

That was it. Peter's head was just gonna explode. "Do you even hear yourself-" But then he fell silent, brow furrowed in sudden thought. "Wait... wait, what did you just say?"

The Captain's face had lost a considerable amount of anger, his jaw now hanging open in silence. Peter took a step towards him, not worried but aware that he couldn't feel his legs anymore.

"What did you just say?"

Peter turned to the sound of Colonel Rhodes braces engaging and found the man had stood up and was walking up towards him.

"Pete-"

_No. No. No. No!_ "That's... that's not true. That can't be true." He couldn't make his voice work properly. Just a low whisper came over his lips.

"Well, that was subtle, Cap..."

Without his enhanced hearing Peter probably wouldn't have caught it. He spun around and his eyes fell on Lang looming behind Rogers. He tried to say it again with more conviction as he turned his eyes back on Rogers.

"That's not true. You're lying!" A familiar sense of pressure was building up in his chest and he tried to control his heart, his breathing, his spinning thoughts.

"Tony would have done anything for you, Pete. And you know that." He pushed Rhodes hand off his shoulder and turned again, his mind dizzy. They were wrong. They had to be wrong.

"No... not when Ms. Potts... He wouldn't... he would never risk losing Ms. Potts for-" Movement behind Colonel Rhodes pulled in his focus. Down the corridor of the hospital wing his mentor's fiancé had just stepped into his eye line as if waiting for his cue. Or... or probably his wife at this point. Pepper Potts or Pepper Stark. He didn't know. But she wasn't the only one that was walking down the hallway away from them to the other side of the building. A young girl, clasping her hand tightly, was walking alongside her. A little girl, who... oh god.

The commotion behind him didn't really register. His body was frozen in place, his mind empty, with the exception of one thought. Just a whisper of his sub-conscience at first, but the longer his eyes were fixed on the girl, the more the fact registered.

"That's... that's Morgan. She's -"

"Don't."_ Don't say it. Don't say it. Don't say it._

He didn't need Rhodes to say it. He didn't want to hear it. The undeniable truth was that Peter was looking right at Mr. Stark's daughter. She had an air of buoyancy and mirth in her step that screamed of the Tony Stark he had known. She was going to see her father. He could tell. The suppressed eagerness was radiating off her. She was going to see her father and she didn't know... she didn't know yet, that it would be the last time.

"Pete, come on..."

Only as Rhodes' put his hands on him did Peter regain some form of feeling in his bones. His arms were shaking. His legs were like jello. He tore his eyes away from the hallway, from Mr. Stark's family, and took a couple of steps back. They were alone. Just him and Rhodes. So this was it. His legs buckled and he didn't hold back his tears any longer. Rhodes reached for his arm to catch him before he could hit the floor, but Peter jerked away. He balled himself up against the wall of the room, dropping his face into his hands and wept. Weeping was all that was left for him to do now, all he could do.

He wept for Mr. Stark. For his family. For the life he should have had with them. And he wept for himself. He didn't know how he would ever be able to cope with this. How would he ever be able to live with that? Mr. Stark had risked it all for him. And lost.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2  
**

Peter was sitting on the floor, hugging his knees. The world could go and fuck right off. He was done with all that! What was winning worth anyway, if it hurt so much?

Rhodes had bend down and put hands on his back.

"It's gonna be alright, Pete..."

Peter recoiled. He had pushed the hands off himself and Rhodes had resigned, simply sat down on a chair close to him.

His head was throbbing painfully from all the crying, from his thoughts, the memories. The image of a dying Tony Stark kept popping up in his mind. He shook his head violently whenever his thoughts would take him there. Could his mind just shut up already? With every breath he took, the tightness in his chest brought another wave of pain crashing down on him. It just wouldn't stop. The pain wouldn't stop.

He just wanted to go home, to crawl under his covers in his room and forget the world just like a child. Like the child he still was. He couldn't do this again. The way he lost all control over himself, it was pathetic. He hated himself for caring so much. When did he even get this attached? How did he let that happen? He should have known better. He should have stopped himself. All of this was just too much.

He was still curled in on himself, head resting on his arms when he heard the door. Oh fuck, they were back. A new wave of anxiety came crashing down on him. He didn't need their judgment on top of everything. Rogers, Strange, Banner. All of them. Mr. Stark's so-called teammates. They could all go to hell. His whole body trembled when soft, warm, very un-soldier-like hands came to rest on his head and back. He jerked momentarily but those hands... Those hands he knew.

"Oh, Peter... oh god..."

He couldn't bring himself to loosen the protective hold he had of his own body but he did lean into May as her arms pulled him close. She slowly rubbed his back, her other hand running through his messy hair, easing the painful throbbing in his skull. The way she held him, firmly and securely wrapped in her arms... This wasn't her first time. They'd been here before. They'd been right here plenty of times. How could he have been so careless with himself? After everything how could he have carried his heart this openly, making himself this vulnerable? Again.

She held him for a while, told him how much she loved him, how much she had missed him, how scared she had been for him.

How sorry she was.

But what was the point? He needed to leave. He needed to get away from them. All of them.

"I wanna go home."

His voice was raspy and thick. He was trying to dry his face on his sleeve, but couldn't. The suit. He was still in his suit. The Iron-Spider suit. The realization physically shook him so strongly that May jerked back, let go of him. He... he needed to get out of this suit. Instinctively he pressed his hand against the spider symbol on his chest. As the nanites retraced into two housing units still securely fastened on his inner forearm, he couldn't help but sob deeply. He was still wearing his regular suit underneath the Iron-Spider. He jumped up, ripped the housing units off himself and threw them on the table. Home. He wanted to go home. He needed to go right now.

"Peter, honey... You need to see a Doctor first, alright. Just, just to be sure that you're alright."

He didn't look at her, eyes only scanning the hallway outside. It was completely deserted. But who knew for how long. He needed to go. Right this instant.

"I'm not alright. I don't need a doctor to figure that out. I want to go _home_."

"Peter, please. For me. Please, I just want to know that-"

"No." He turned to face her and he finally saw her. The lines of time and loss that marked her face, dark circles under her eyes. His hand shot up trying to pull the fabric of the suit off his chest as his heart contracted painfully. Was there no end to this agonizing day?

"It's... I'm not hurt. Not more than I can deal with."

He could. The wounds and abrasion on his body, they were nothing. The physical ones at least. He could deal with all that. He'd been taught how to deal with all that. Peter bit the inside of his cheek to keep his face from crumbling.

"Peter, you should wait." Rhodes kept his distance but there was a low humming sound coming from his braces as he stood up behind him. "You should wait to... to say goodbye. He's.. he's in room 204 in the East Wing. Pepper and Morgan, when... when they are, you know, done. You... you should go and say goodbye. Pay your respects."

Peter's inside recoiled. Oh, hell no. No. No, he couldn't do that. There was absolutely no way that he would-

"Honey, it's alright. I can come with you. It'll..." May took a deep breath and sighed. "You'll be glad that you went, down the line..."

His hand went to one of the suits pouches by reflex and he pulled out the back-up mask stored there. Before either May or Colonel Rhodes could make a move, he had put the mask on and dashed out of the door, muting Karen in the process. How had he even gotten there? He stood in the corridor looking back and forth when the sound of strong and fast footsteps made him turn. He looked down into the hallway Ms. Potts had walked down earlier. Happy Hogan stopped in his tracks as his eyes landed on Peter. He held the girl - Morgan - securely wrapped in his arms, her arms slung around his neck, face resting on his shoulder. Peter didn't hesitate to run in the opposite direction.

The next time Peter's conscious perception came back online he found himself in his room, in a hammock-net he had attached to the ceiling in the corner close to his bedroom window. The suit was lying crumpled up under the bed. He had only grabbed a blanket to pull over himself. It didn't do much to dampen his senses, but he preferred the darkness underneath it.

May arrived at the apartment not long afterwards. Thank god, it was only her. May... May he could handle. May would get him to calm down. With soft, low pleas she would coax him down from his ceiling retreat. He pulled on some sweats she had laid out for him before he let himself fall onto his bed, back pressed against the cold apartment wall. She brought food, but he couldn't. Food was too much. Too normal. Too much comfort. But that look in her eyes worked on him and he made himself drink a couple of sips from the water she handed him instead. His head was throbbing. Dehydration probably. No wonder, after all the crying... The next time she came into the room she was clasping her mobile phone.

"It's Pepper..."

His eyes widened. _Oh god, no._ He shook his head and bit his tongue. No. Of all the people, not her. Why... why would she even be calling? Shame started rising inside him, sending a shiver down his spine. Someone must have told her... Someone must have told her, how badly he was coping. She should be grieving with her daughter, not on the phone talking to him! The pressure in his chest rose up again and he fought to suppress a wave of nausea.

"She just wants to talk, Peter."

He hated himself for this. But May was insisting, holding out the phone, asking him to take it again and again. So, he did.

"Hello..."

"Hi, Peter."

His mind was blank. There were no words. How would he ever even start to make it up to her? Like he ever could.

"I'm so sorry, Ms. Potts..." He bit his lip trying not to cry to her on the phone. She just lost her husband and there he was, about to cry. Just pathetic.

"Rhodey told me that you learned about... about Tony's motivation for joining the team again through a rather... blunt delivery from Captain Rogers."

He didn't manage to suppress the sob any longer. "I'm... I'm so... so sorry... Ms. Potts, I didn't-"

"Peter... I want you to listen and I want you to hear me when I say this. Tony made a choice. A very conscious choice. Losing you broke him, kid. He would have done anything to keep you save and failing in that took a piece of him that nobody could give him back. So, he took it back himself. He did that. Getting you back was winning to him."

"Then why does this feel like losing. How is any scenario without Mr. Stark..." His voice broke. He just wanted to make it through one damn sentence without his voice breaking. "How is any scenario where we... we lose him considered winning? I... I didn't want this. I didn't want any of this."

"Pete, you're here. He won. And we need you here. We're all hurting. I need you here. You carry a part of his heart and I need all that is left of Tony close to me. Close to Morgan. She'll..." She stopped speaking and he could hear how she cleared her throat, inhaled and exhaled deeply. "She'll not remember him, Pete. In a few years, all... all she'll remember will be the stories we tell her, the pictures of them. She is so young. So young, she'll forget. So, I need you. I need you to keep him alive for her. I need her to see how much Tony meant to you. Please."

He bit his lip and turned the phone's mouthpiece away from his face. He needed to stop crying. He needed to stop.

"Please, Peter."

"I... I can't. I can't look at him, I can't..." He curled in on himself on the bed again, trying to tense his muscles to keep his body from shaking. May's hand was resting on his knee, just offering a line of support.

"He..." She sighed deeply, clearing her throat. "He looks really peaceful. It's... I promise, it's not... He just looks like himself." She stayed quiet for a moment, waiting for Peter to respond. When he didn't she sighed. "It's... it's alright if you don't want to come to the hospital. I can... I can tell him that you love him. I know you do, honey." She stayed quiet again but Peter couldn't say another word. He didn't trust his voice, afraid that incomprehensible sobs were all that would come out of his mouth. "Maybe... maybe dinner. You could come by the house. Please, come and see us."

He cleared his throat, managing a whispered "Alright... alright. I will."

He was numb when he hung up. May offered to drive them there for dinner, but Peter refused. Not right away. He wasn't ready. He wasn't ready to face them. He wasn't ready the next day either or the day after that or the one after that.

First, he spent his time locked away in his room but then Happy started stopping by. One day is was Colonel Rhodes who showed up. Why couldn't they just let him be? He'd escaped out of the window whenever visitors arrived. He'd sit on one of the Queen's rooftops when the weather was dry and would hide underneath Queensboro Bridge if it was raining, his hoodie pulled down as far as it would go to cover his face.

10 days he managed to steer clear of everyone but May. Every phone call, everyone coming up to knock on their door. He avoided every tight spot he could have been caught in. His Spidey-senses saved him again and again. They couldn't help him avoid the funeral though. A cold might have done it. A long swim in the East River would have probably given him some sort of sickness. If not, there was always the trick with the thermometer and the light bulb. But May had put her foot down.

"You owe him this, Peter. You owe yourself this. You will not skip the funeral."

So he'd put on the suit. Not his suit. That was still crumbled together where he had left it on the day underneath the bed. The black suit he was supposed to wear to official Stark Industry parties. When Mr. Stark had started inviting him to the lab on a regular basis, Ms. Potts had one day brought in a whole rack of suits for him to try on for a Stark industry benefit. Would she remember that? Was it... inappropriate to wear this? Well, it was all he had.

The drive to the Stark's property took longer than he had anticipated. He had thought the Compound had been remote upstate but this... And the house... it was so... normal. Big, yes, but also normal. Befitting a regular man, a regular family. That's what Mr. Stark had wanted in the end. Normalcy. Peace and quiet. Peter shook his head in short powerful motions from side to side, forcing the thought out of his head. The picture of a content and happy Tony Stark needed to get the hell out of his head. He hadn't even gotten out of the car yet. He couldn't fall apart already.

They left the car parked behind a dozen other vehicles and slowly walked up the driveway. It went past the house, then sloped downhill to the shore of the lake. People had already gathered by the dock, milling around in black clothes and with sad faces. Behind them, the lake's surface glittered, each tiny wave crested with a crown of light that stung his eyes.

He struggled forward, trailing behind May.

A few steps later the crowd's subdued murmurs and suppressed sobs joined the already screaming cacophony of forest's voices, someone—maybe Pepper—rummaging in the house, and more cars arriving behind him. He shook his head against the onrush of noises. It was no use.

He came to a halt and swallowed hard.

"May…I...I need a minute."

"Honey...you can't—"

"Just... just a minute. I'll be right behind you. Promised."

She pursed her lips, then nodded. When she went ahead without him, the gravel beneath her shoes crunched a tenfold louder than normal and he just could not shut it out. Damn it. How was he supposed to get through all this like that? If he didn't get a grip on his senses soon, he'd snap.  
Peter covered his ears. The noises receded only to give way to the amplified rush of his blood and the booming beat of his own heart. It was surely hammering loud enough for everyone else to hear.

He shook his head and straightened up again. At once, the buzzing sounds came back. May's footsteps on the dock, the rustling wind, and the waves lapping on the up on the shore. The voices, however, were the worst. Sad, comforting, resigned.

They had given up. They had failed Tony — after all he had done for them. A fancy funeral wouldn't make up for such a betrayal. Not in his book. He didn't want to-

"Peter?"

He nearly jumped out of his skin, the hairs on his neck raised in alarm.

"Woahh!"

Morgan Stark looked up to him, calm eyes slightly questioning. Holy shit, how had he not heard her coming?

"You're Peter."

It wasn't a question at all. He nodded and rubbed a hand along his arms, easing down his oversensitive skin. "I... yeah... yeah, I'm Peter."

She studied him for a moment. "Mommy said you might not come."

The pressure in his chest increased and painfully constricted his lungs.

"But Happy said, you'd be here. You still know Happy, right?"

He wanted to smile for her, but his face trembled, so he just nodded. "Yeah... yeah, I know Happy."

"I will go and tell Mommy that I found you!"

She turned to walk towards the cluster of people that had gathered around Ms. Potts down by the lake. It was then that his eyes fell on Happy who was standing a considerable length away from the group his eyes never leaving Morgan. When the girl had made it all the way to her mother his gaze shifted back up to him. Peter looked away, quickly turning to either side. Where to go? Where could he go?! Very much deer caught in headlights he couldn't decide which way to run and then it was too late to run at all. Happy had almost made it over to him. Peter bit his lip. He opened and closed his hands, trying to get some blood circulating in his arms. Everything felt numb. To hell with it. He stood up straight. He would have to face them at some point. Happy silently walked up to him before simply pulling him close for a hug.

Peter froze. He blinked away the tears ghat shot into his eyes and tentatively raised his arms to hold onto his former handler. They broke apart and Happy put a hand on his shoulder. "Come on, kid." Slowly and side by side they walked down to the lake together.

Peter faced the funeral as best he could. It would be bad, but he would get through the ordeal. Deep breaths, as little eye contact as possible, his heart a fortress. Nobody and nothing would get in there. He almost made it but then May ruined his plan. She wouldn't let him sneak past Ms. Potts and hide among the other mourners. One look at her and Morgan, all proper and poised in their black dresses, and everything went from bad to worse. Ms. Pott's tear-red eyes brightened at the sight of him, not a trace of regret or any disappointment over promised yet evaded visits in them. She told him right away to stop calling her Ms. Potts — she'd always be Pepper for him now — gathered him into a hug, and cried.

He fought his tears bravely. Warm summer nights by the beach, movie dinners with May, catching one of MJ's quick smiles. Not one of the happy memories he dredged up made a dent in his all-encompassing misery. The longer Pepper held him tight to her chest, the weaker he got, each of her sobs chipping away at his defenses until he broke and cried, too. Hot tears for Tony, for Pepper and Morgan, and for all what could have been…

After she let him go, he stumbled away, head bent and the wall around his heart in ruins. He sidled to the edge of the crowd, as far in the back as May would let him. As soon as the ceremony was over, he buggered off into the trees.

An upper branch fork in an old oak was as far as he dared to escape. Far enough to be out of sight but close enough to keep an eye on May. Of course, she noticed his absence. She, and Happy too, turned around from time to time, their glances wandering back and forth between the house and the dock. Let them look. He'd know when she would want to go. Until then, the tree was a good enough spot. The forest's noises surrounded him, loud and steady and unfiltered in his mind. Just as he had hoped, the monotonous buzz drowned out the voices of the mourners at the lake.

"Peter Parker."

He jerked, almost losing his balance but his hands shot up, grasping nearby branches for more support. At least the self-preservation instincts still worked properly and somewhat reliable despite his overamplified sense. That came in handy. He swallowed his panic and straightened in his seat.

"Nebula?"

Her black eyes regarded him with a peculiar expression. Pity? Amusement? Suspicion? Before he could decide on any possibility, she cocked her head and squinted at him.

"Are you hiding in a tree, Parker?"

Ah. Disbelief. He shrugged it off.

"Just…you know—."

Was this supposed to be a rhetorical question or did she actuallz expect an answer?

"How... how do you even know who I am?"

"You know who I am."

"Yeah, but to me, Titan was like two weeks ago."

Nebula still looked up at him and crossed her arms. "After Titan, Stark and I were stuck on the Guardian's ship in deep space. Stranded for 21 days. I watched him fall apart for 21 days. Grieving you. He tried to give up on me more than once. He was defeated. Your father was done with this world."

Peter swallowed hard, his voice hardly more than a whisper. "He wasn't my father."

Nebula's eyes were staring at him unblinkingly. "Of course he was. In every way that mattered. Just like you were his son, in every way that mattered. Every way but blood. And blood is overrated. I have hardly any left myself and still, here I am."

Peter's eyes wandered over to the little group by the lake. To the little girl clinging to her mother's hand. The girl who actually had Tony Stark's blood running through her veins who might never remember what Tony Stark was like. As a father.

"What does it matter. Blood, no blood. He's gone." His voice was cracking. Urgh. He'd done so well with keeping his emotions at bay. What the hell had Mr. Stark been saying about him to Nebula? They were close, yes, but... of course they would be. Mr. Stark was his mentor, but that was it. He was his mentor.

"You know, when Stark wanted to give up, I didn't let him. Fine, without Marvel all my pep-talks would have been obsolete, but I kept him alive till we got rescued."

Peter actually barked out what could have been a laugh. "Your pep-talks?" His eyebrows shot up. Had they been anything like this?

Nebula tiled her head, eyes still fixed on him. "Don't mock me, boy. They are the reason why Tony Stark made it back to Earth all living and breathing. I didn't let him quit on you and I'm not gonna let his son quit on him either."

"Stop calling me that." He tore his eyes away from her again, but instead of looking down to the mourners gathered by the lake, he simply turned his eyes to the water, studying the waves, the birds. Maybe she'd just disappear to wherever she'd come from.

"It took him 5 years to come up with a plan to get you back. To fix the universe. From what I heard it took you only a couple of hours to come up with your own plan."

His head turned to her with enough force to strain the muscles in his neck.

"What are you talking about?"

"Why don't you get your ass down here so you and I can talk about the Quantum Realm."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

His feet landed on the ground with a thump. He brushed off bits of bark from his suit and straightened his back, facing her. Nebula still had her arms crossed in front of her and her unblinking eyes didn't leave him even for a moment. The intensity of her stare made his hands sweat, but this was too important. He hadn't talked about anything Quantum Realm related outside of that hospital room.

"I don't understand how you even know... you... you weren't even in the room."

"Lang told me about your efforts."

"Lang?"

"The Ant."

"Yes... Yes, I know who he is." He shook his head in confusion. Why would he care?

"Good. We are operating within a narrow time frame here, so if you want to do something about your dead father, fast action is of the essence."

Peter bit the insides of his cheeks, his back stiffening. If he wanted to... Of course, he _wanted_ to! But none of these other fucking morons did! "I... I don't even know how any of it works. Only... only what they told me after... after..." He cleared his throat. "Only the gist of what they did... of what happened."

"We have until tomorrow night to figure out the details then. The day after that they will be returning the Stones. They want to destroy the platform when they are done, therefore eliminating the access we have to the Quantum Realm."

Peter's eyes shot up at her. "Tomorrow night? Are you kidding me? I... I don't know anything about this! How am I supposed to do that?"

She gave her head a slight tilt again, her black eyes still fixed on him. "I'd suggest you start right away." She waved her hand at him. Peter frowned and turned. His eyes wandered over to what she was pointing at. The Stark's family home. "Stark figured out how to use the Quantum Realm right in there. I assume there are records. He will have left some form of access for you. The man was well prepared."

He whirled around, staring at her. "You want me to break into Mr. Stark's home? Into his secure files? In the middle of his wake? Are you insane?"

"I don't want you to break in. I want you to walk into the house and simply access the files he has left behind."

Well, yes. She _had_ lost her mind. How on earth... "What makes you think he'd give me of all people access to any of this? He wouldn't even let me access the blueprints and underlying code to my own suit! He... he didn't let me... Whatever. That whole house is probably armed to the teeth with every possible security feature imaginable. If anything, I'd probably get tazed just trying to open the front door!"

"Have you tried?"

"To break into his house before? No!"

Her eyes still unblinking, fixed on him, were unnerving, to say the least. "To access files on his system."

Peter shook his head in frustration. "No... yeah... I mean, I guess I did. Ned even..." He frowned, the wheels in his head starting to turn. Ned had been able to access the suit and when Mr. Stark had found out he had taken his suit. After that when Peter started going to the lab, they had worked on the suit together, him and Mr. Stark. Sure, sometimes Mr. Stark had to leave to take care of some things and then it was just Peter in the lab with the files right there, but... well, FRIDAY was watching him the whole time. She... she would have told on him had he tried anything Mr. Stark hadn't wanted him to do. There was always some sort of supervision for Peter, because... well... it was him...

"It is quite striking how much you do act like your father." He looked up at her, trying to pull himself from his trip down memory lane back into the present. "You have adopted a lot of his mannerisms, but I would suggest that you try to shed this internalized inferiority that you seem to have taken on as well. Both of you somehow got this notion that you are not good enough to be trusted. Not worthy enough to be fought for and loved as fiercely as you are. Your father dropped everything and traveled through space and time on a quest to bring you home. And you think he didn't trust you to access some files?"

Her arms dropped to her side, stepping closer to him. "We have a rendezvous with Lang in about 4 hours. That should give you plenty of time to get into Stark's files and get back to the city." She held out a piece of paper.

Peter hesitated. This... this was insane. He didn't even know her. Where the hell did she get this confidence that he would manage to do any of this? "What if you're wrong? What if the files are gone or if I... what if I just can't get them?"

"Then we'll take it from there." She stepped up closer to him and shoved the piece of paper into his hand. It was an address, somewhere in Queens.

"What if it's not good enough to get him back?" he whispered.

"What if it is?"

Peter could feel his eyes stinging. He looked up at her but she had already turned to stalk away.

"Wait!" He took a couple of stumbling steps to go after her. "Maybe... maybe if you come look for them with me we could-"

"You're enough, Parker. Remember that! I'll see you tonight." She kept walking uphill disappearing between the trees of the Stark's property.

Peter had taken quite the detour to get to the house's front door. Partially because he wanted to avoid being seen by anyone down at the lake, but really he needed to clear his head. What had just happened was, well, unexpected to say the least. His heart was beating strong and fast and his chest felt similarly tight as it would with an approaching anxiety attack. But there was something else. A light flutter in his stomach. A little ball of warmth. It wouldn't rise past his ribs and got nowhere near his chest, let alone heart, but deep down in his gut, there was something.

_Hope._ Nebula had given him a straw to cling to, the whiff of a chance to maybe... maybe be able to do... something. Something that would help Mr. Stark. The thought sent goosebumps through his body. He sat down on the steps leading up to the deck and the front door. This was crazy, right? He couldn't just... He didn't know her. She fought against Thanos, yes, but that didn't mean she was automatically on his side. That didn't mean that she couldn't also be playing him. Maybe she was trying to trick him to extract information that Mr. Stark hadn't been willing to give her.

He sighed and rested his head in his hands, groaning in frustration, he whispered to himself. "You're such a gullible fool, Peter Parker." He took deep breaths and exhaled slowly till his lungs were burning. It didn't matter. The muffled voices echoing up from the other side of the house, from down by the lake, were louder here than they had been in the woods. The team, still graciously mourning Mr. Stark. He bit down hard on his lip. It didn't matter if she was lying. This was his only shot. Nobody else was willing to even hear him out. It was trusting her or not trying at all. Mr. Stark had risked everything for him and if he would have to take the risk of being played by Nebula, well then so be it.

He took his heart in his hand, stood up and walked up to the front door. Another deep breath as he stared at the doorknob. Mr. Stark wouldn't electrocute him... right? He shook out his arms and cracked his neck.

"Well, here goes nothing..."

With a swift motion, lower lips caught between his teeth, he placed his hand on the doorknob. For a second he held his breath, then for another. Alright then. He closed his eyes and slowly turned the doorknob. It took him another couple of seconds to open his eyes again.

"Huh... that was a little anti-climactic." The door had simply opened and he stepped inside, closing it behind him.

The inside was homey and warm. Compared to Mr. Stark's living quarters at the Compound and the New York apartment he had shared with Ms. Potts, that Peter had only been to a handful of times, this was all just so normal. The wardrobe that had a handmade welcome sign pinned to it. The pillows on the little bench in the hallway. Not as slick and modern as he had expected, but comfy and welcoming.

"Welcome back, Mr. Parker."

FRIDAY's voice startled him. But his heart rate spiked only for a moment. The familiar sound of her voice did put the tiniest smile on his lips. A sad nostalgic one, but it was good to hear her nonetheless.

"Hi there, FRIDAY..."

"We expected your visit to come a lot sooner."

He sighed and shook the tight feeling in his chest from his body. "Yeah... I know, I said, I would, but... I just..." Being there hurt. He didn't even know this house. The furniture was different. Most of the pictures on the walls had been taken of the family long after he had been gone. Still, there was a vibe. Like he could feel Mr. Stark's presence, his touch in every corner of this building.

"There is a message for you. If you could make your way through the doors on your right to Mr. Stark's workstation."

A what now? His pulse shot up and a shiver ran down his spine. He followed FRIDAY's instructions through which door to walk until he found himself in a big room that seemed to be designed as a joint kitchen-sitting room-living area kind of thing. Just as he was about to ask where he was supposed to go next a hologram shot up from the table right next to the kitchen.

A sharp pain pierced his heart as he was looking right at a life-like hologram of his mentor. It was so real that he almost wanted to convince himself that it was too good to be a gimmick. His eyes stung and he had to look away. That it was him. He shook his head. This... this wasn't real, just a recording. As Mr. Stark's voice rang in the room his eyes shot back up at him.

_"Hey, kid..."_ The hologram-Mr. Stark chuckled, a tentative smile on his face. _"This is weird. I don't..."_ Mr. Stark sighed, kneading his fingers, looking down on them. _"This has been such a pipe dream. I know all of this is reckless and the odds are... well. Let's just say, a lot of things have to go very right for us to pull this off and I'm aware that there's a distinct possibility that even if we do pull it off, some of us might get lost in the vortex or... come across a fatal flaw in the plan, but... but there's a chance. There is a real chance that we could pull this off, get everyone back."_ He chuckled again, shaking his head. _"Hell, there's a real chance that in just a few hours you could be sitting in the Compound with us. So... how can I not. How can I not try?"_

Mr. Stark looked directly into the camera. Peter's hands were shaking. His legs were wobbly and numb. He struggled to control his breathing.

_"I've made some preparations in case things don't work out the way I planned them to and I guess... I guess this is the super cheesy point where I'm all like: If you are watching this something probably didn't go as planned..."_ He snorted out a laugh, amused by his own impression. Casting his eyes down, he was lost in his thoughts for a moment. The smile slowly fading.

_"I'm... I'm not planning on dying, Pete. But if you really are watching this, then... well, I'm sorry, buddy. I'm sorry I messed up along the way somehow. And I'm sorry that I couldn't protect you on Titan. Having you..."_

He cleared his throat and Peter's hand shot up to dab at his eyes.

_"Titan was the worst moment of my life. It was the nightmare scenario for so long. We were supposed to protect Earth and I was supposed to keep you save, but I couldn't... I failed."_

Mr. Stark turned his eyes up to the camera, looking straight into the lens and therefore right at Peter.

_"I'm sorry, Pete. Please, don't feel bad about this. If you are sitting here, watching this, then I fixed what I wanted to fix. You'll be alright. And..."_

Through his tears, Peter had his gaze fixed on the recording, watching his mentor struggle to speak. He hadn't wanted this. He hadn't wanted any of this.

_"Keep an eye on my family, will you? I know it's a shitty thing to ask of you. I know that they deserve better than what I'm doing to them and I wish... I wish..."_

Mr. Stark shook his head, eyes on the floor. He cleared his throat and moved on from whatever he had been about to say, looking back up into the lens, eyes shining brightly.

_"I miss you, kid. I never knew what _a void_ the lack of your endless memes and gif message thingies would rip into my life."_

He chuckled for a moment, looking down at his hands once more before his face became serious again. He brought his eyes back up, looking straight into the camera, the lines on his face drawn in pain and loss.

_"I miss you so much, kid. If you're seeing this, then I want you to know, I regret nothing. _You_ hear? Nothing."_

Peter had to hold onto the workstation to keep himself from buckling to the ground. His legs were shaking and his face was wet with tears. Fresh and strong pain was surging through him, physically stabbing his heart as the sense of loss overwhelmed him. He wanted to look away but he just couldn't take his eyes off the man who'd meant so much to him.

_"There are some things for you here. FRIDAY will guide you through everything. Nerdy, _techy_ stuff to keep your crime-fighting going."_ A sad smile played around his lips. _"I do hope that with time, your neighborhood will get back to the way it was. You do need your neighborhood if you want to be a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, right?"_

He smirked into the camera, his face so much more open and vulnerable than Peter had ever seen him in life. _"You'll do great things, Pete. I know you will. I'll... I'll be sad, that I won't get to see you succeed. But I'm fine with it if this is the prize... if I'm the prize I have to pay for you to have your life. I'm proud of you."_ He pursed his lips, eyes shining and hesitated another moment before adding, _"I love you, kid."_

Peter was sitting on the tiled floor his back against the workstation trying to cry as silently as possible. The underlying message Mr. Stark had wanted him to hear was clear.

_"I'm fine." "I regret nothing." "Don't feel bad about this."_

An offer of absolution. He didn't doubt that Mr. Stark had meant every word and Nebula's assessment of both of them came back to him.

_"Internalized inferiority." "The notion that you are not worthy enough to be fought for."_

Was it really that surprising that Mr. Stark thought his sacrifice would be so easily bearable for the people around him? After years of team dynamics where he'd been pushed into more of a role as advisor and sponsor than friend and teammate. Was it really that surprising that he seemed to think that he didn't matter as much as they did? That giving himself up for everyone else's happiness was his destiny? That giving himself up for Peter would be a no brainer?

He used the sleeve of his suit to roughly dry his face, his nerves making his vision swim. No, this wouldn't do. Whatever reservations he may have had about trusting Nebula went swiftly out of the window. Fuck the consequences. He wouldn't leave Mr. Stark hanging like that. He'd do anything he could think of to give him back to his family. And the answer might be right in front of him. He only had to ask.

"FRIDAY?" Peter's voice was still thick with tears. He cleared his throat. "Do you have any files stored on Mr. Stark's research into the Quantum Realm?"

His eyes shot up as the room was illuminated around him. Quickly he scrambled to his feet. He took in that bright model hovering where earlier he had been looking at Mr. Stark's recording.

"A... a Möbius strip?" His mind went into overdrive, trying to align what was in front of him with what he had been told by Banner and Rogers. Well, forget what Rogers said. Like he'd know how any of this actually worked. Banner said nothing would change in their present if they changed something in the past. "A Möbius strip... that would mean as they traveled through the universe they'd return as their mirror image." He shook his head, eyes turned up to FRIDAY. "But that doesn't make any sense."

"Boss designed a device, a bracelet, that would allow them to be pulled back in their original composition."

Right. The bracelets. "But they'd still create a new timeline? Even if they're pulled back? That's the theory, right? An n-dimensional universe, expanding into new timelines with different choices, different actions."

"Very well put, Mr. Parker."

Peter's hand came up to rub the bridge of his nose. His head was already hurting. "Did Mr. Stark figure out how to travel to a particular timeline?"

"No, Boss simply traveled to a different point in time and space in his own timeline. Their arrival then caused a new dimension to fork off where they were successful in retrieving the stones."

He frowned. "How do we know that this right here is their original timeline then?"

"The bracelets and the platform function as anchor and chain for them to return to the exact dimension that they had previously left."

"So.. if I wanted to find Mr. Stark in a particular dimension, I'd have to... I..." He exhaled deeply and cursed under his breath. "There's no telling, is there... No telling where to exit the Quantum Realm to come out in the precise forked off timeline they are in. I'd only... I'd have to jump through n-dimensions to find them." He buried his head in his hands, rubbing his temples. Oh shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. His eyes were burning and he closed them. He really couldn't stand crying again. He banged the palm of his hand against his forehead. "Unless... unless I have something to draw me to the right one." His hands stopped as his eyes flew open. "FRIDAY, what did Mr. Stark use to create the bracelets?"

"They are designed with nanotechnology, holding the Quantum suit as well as the connector to this dimension."

Peter's heart jumped in his throat. "I could screen the dimension for nano vibrations in 2012 New York. The only nanotechnology in the city in 2012 would be tech from the future."

"Screening for nano vibrations would require a device that is capable to access the Quantum Realm."

"Like the platform they build to tunnel through?"

"Something exactly like that."

Peter nodded to himself. His muscles shivered as a cold wave of excitement ran through him. That was one step. Good god, that was one important step. He had no idea how to implement it, but it was possible. In theory-

"FRIDAY, do we know if there's a way to erase rogue timelines after they've been created?"

"As far as my records show only cosmic energy has the ability to change the course of the universe on this kind of a dramatic scale."

"Cosmic energy..." Peter gulped. "Infinity Stones are used to wield cosmic energy."

"That's correct. Unfortunately, I must inform you that this dimension's Infinity Stones have been destroyed 5 years ago by Thanos on Zen-Whoberi."

Peter pursed his lips. "That dude really is a plaque, isn't he."

"I wasn't too fond of him myself."

Peter snorted, casting his eyes up to the ceiling. "That was more of a rhetorical question, FRIDAY."

He shook his head as she apologizes for the misinterpretation of his question. "It doesn't matter though, does it... We do have Stones here, right now. They aren't ours but as long as we do this before they are returned..."

"Mr. Parker, I would advice against rash actions as most of the knowledge I have collected on the Quantum Realm is highly theoretical and not very comprehensive."

His hands on the edge of the workstation he looked down to his feet. He shook his head and smirked up at the ceiling. "How long did it take Mr. Stark to decide to jump off that ledge?"

"I would like to decline to disclose this information as I fear the implications it would have on your decision-making process."

A sad smile pulled up the corners of Peter's mouth. "He just jumped in right away, didn't he? Fuck the consequences. The plan of attack is attack." He could feel the tightness in his chest again but made an effort to concentrate on that little ball of warmth in his stomach.

"He did discuss his plan with Mrs. Stark."

"Did he?" Peter bit his lip. Of course, he would have told Ms. Potts. He trusted her to be there for him, to guide him. Peter sighed. Yeah, someone he could trust would really come in handy right about now. "Did Mr. Stark trust Nebula?"

"Nebula saved Boss' life in space."

Peter gave a low grunt, murmuring more to himself than to FRIDAY. "Yeah, I heard about that..." His own life had been saved a few times in that final battle, but that didn't necessarily mean he'd trusted his saviors unconditionally. Especially since one of them had been Rogers.

"I think I need her for my own pipe dream. I don't think I can do this on my own."

"All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them."

Peter's eyebrows shot up and he sent a quizzical look to the ceiling. "Did you just quote Walt Disney to me, FRIDAY?"

"I searched my database for inspirational quotes about following dreams and this one seemed to fit the mood."

Peter shook his head, chuckling under his breath. "You're weird, you know that?"

"Thank you, Mr. Parker. You're weird, too."

He couldn't help but smile at the sincerity in her voice. That was about right. In the Stark household normalcy was nothing but tedious mediocrity. Excellence... excellence required a certain form of singularity. Being a little different. Being a little weird. And Peter Parker was nothing if not a little weird.

He asked her to put all the information and research she had on the Quantum Realm mission on a stick for him. He suppressed a grin when she did so without further question.

"I can't tell you to keep this from Ms. Potts, can I?"

"I am not to lie to Mrs. Stark. It is one of the basic lines of programming that Boss implemented."

Peter nodded, biting his lip. "How about, only tell her what I did here if she explicitly asked for it? That's not really lying, but just... you know... waiting for the opportune moment to share the information?"

"That is a fine loophole, Mr. Parker."

He shrugged, his eyes on the ceiling. "I learned from the best, didn't I?"

"Certainly, you did."

He looked down at the stick holding the files and tightly closed his hand around it. "I'm gonna get him back, FRIDAY. It'll work... somehow... it just has to work."

"Courage is the thing, Mr. Parker. All goes if courage goes."

He nodded his head, lost in his thoughts for a moment. "FRIDAY, did my... did the nano housing units Mr. Stark send after me in space... Did they make it back here?"

"Mrs. Stark stored them in the bottom drawer to your left."

He quickly stuffed the stick into the inner pocket of his suit jacket, then bend down and opened a small drawer on the bottom of the workstation. There they were, both attachments for the Iron Spider. And what was more, three freaky-looking bracelets.

"FRIDAY, are those what I think they are?"

"If you are assuming that these are the bracelets that Boss designed to function as Quantum Realm suits with implemented connectors to communicate with this dimension, then yes."

Quickly he reached for them and after a moment of hesitation, he stowed them away in his other breast pocket before he then attached the units of his suit to either arm underneath his suit jacket. He stood up quickly and buttoned up his jacket.

"All goes if courage goes, huh?"

"Indeed."

"Thank you, FRIDAY."

"Live long and prosper, Mr. Parker."

Peter screwed up his face and glared at the ceiling. "He put that in there just to annoy me, didn't he?"

"Naturally. Might I be so bold to inform you, that Mrs. Stark is approaching the-"

"Mute."

He turned around just in time before Pepper opened the door on the other side of the room.

"Oh, there you are." She turned away from him, leaning out of the door to wave in the direction of the group at the lake before she closed the door. "We've been looking for you. Happy was about to..."

She stopped talking as she looked at him more closely and walked up to him. Quickly, Peter wiped a hand over his face, trying to erase the tear track from his cheeks. He caught her face turn into a sympathetic frown and hated himself for making her pity him.

He cleared his throat. "It's fine. I just... FRIDAY had a message from... from Mr. Stark and..." He swallowed the rest of the sentence, tired of stating the obvious. And it hurt. And it had made him cry. And it had broken something inside him wide open that would never ever heal.

"I understand." She gave him a lop-sided smile. "He was way too prepared for this outcome, wasn't he?"

"He just had FRIDAY quote Star Trek to me."

She did smile at that. It was a relief to see the lines of pity and pain disappear for a moment.

"He's always been weird about his teasing."

He thought about telling her then. About what he was going to try. For her and Morgan. For Mr. Stark. And for himself. He gnawed on his lower lip. She would try to stop him though. Ask him not to. He was sure that she would. After all, she had known what Mr. Stark was risking and she'd let him do it. More likely than not he'd have to listen to another round of how he wasn't to take the risk. No risking himself. No messing with the Quantum Realm. He'd just found a drop of courage and he couldn't let her take that. If his courage went... well.

"Peter, why don't you stay. You and May... I could really... It would be great to have you here with us for a bit. I know you're struggling. I understand. I really do. But I don't want this to break you." She paused, swallowing the part of her speech that Peter was sure would have gone something like "Tony wouldn't have wanted this." Thankfully she just finished with a simple "Let me help."

He swallowed, looking down to his feet. The bracelets and the stick were weighing down his suit and droplets of cold sweat were forming on his hairline. His stomach turned at the thought. If she caught him carrying a bunch of Mr. Stark's stuff. Stuff that he'd just stolen from his workbench... He fought the urge to reach for the housing units on his lower arms, to pull down his sleeves a little more._ Breathe._ They weren't sticking out. He was being paranoid. Just to be sure that she wasn't studying him from head to toe, he looked up and met her eyes.

"Thank you, Ms... Pepper. I... I do want that. I do want to... to spend time with you and..." He took a deep breath. "And get to know Morgan. It's just... there's something... something I have to do first. I... I just need a couple more days." He tried to put as much sincerity in his expression as he could. "Just a couple more days and then..."

She frowned, stepping closer to him. "And then?"

His eyes quickly shot over to the door. Fuck, had he just said too much? _Something he had to do first._ _Urgh, Parker. Be more obvious, I dare you..._ He looked back at her, trying to shake his nerves with a shrug. "Then... then I move on."

"It's not like flipping a switch, Pete." She narrowed her eyes on him, searching his face and he felt heat rise up to his face. He broke eye contact with her, looking back down to his feet. Urgh, could there be a more obvious admission of guilt? "Moving on is... You know that, honey. It'll take time."

He exhaled deeply, finding that little ball of warm light in his stomach. This time it would be just as easy as that. And if he managed to flip the switch just the right way, nobody had to get over anything. But he nodded. "I know, I know." His nerves made him want to scratch his neck but he forced his arms to stay down.

She was getting awfully close and he took a step back from her. If she'd want to hug him again, this whole thing might blow up in his face if she were to find the bracelets. Just as he did, the door on the other side of the room swung open again and Morgan Stark came running inside. She only stopped when she had gotten close enough to cling to her mother.

Pepper blinked, kneeling down to look at her. "Hey, Darling. Are you alright?"

The girl buried her face in the fabric of her mother's clothing and whisper, "Is Peter staying?"

Pepper sighed, sending a sad smile in Peter's direction. "I don't think so, Darling. Not today." She ran her fingers through Morgan's brown locks, planting a kiss on her hair.

He looked away, back to his feet. He couldn't stay there any longer. Peter's heart was pounding in his chest. He could tell that Pepper's eyes were back on him, waiting for him to change his mind. His eyes shot over to the door he'd walked in earlier. The one _not_ leading him out to all the people still mingling close to the lake. He needed to leave. Now. He couldn't stand this. He couldn't stand Tony Stark's daughter looking at him like a lifeline. Like he would be able to give her something back. Anything at all that would even begin to measure up to what Mr. Stark had to offer her.

He stammered a couple "sorry"s, promising that maybe another time he could stay, slowly making his way around them for the door, careful to keep his distance. He needed to find May and _leave_.

He had to get to the city, meet with Nebula and then find Mr. Stark.

He... he could fix this.

He had to fix this.

_(author's note: Thanks for reading guys and thank you for the feedback!:)_

_"Courage is the thing. All goes if courage goes." -J.M. Barrie)_


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

After a quiet car ride back to the city and a lengthy argument with May at the apartment, Peter was back outside. The location Nebula had arranged for them to meet at was a few blocks northeast from his and May's apartment. There was still time. Food would be great so he took a short detour. Turned out that it was harder to find an open sandwich shop in Queens that he had thought. Three tries later and a turkey-swiss with pickles richer Peter headed for the address. He had spent a considerable amount of time on the borough's rooftops in the last few days, but it turned out he had paid zero attention to what was happening around him. Mr. Stark had been right. Well, of course. The realization shocked him nonetheless. Things had gone from bad to worse in the entire neighborhood. Boarded up windows, empty apartments everywhere. Broken glass on the sidewalks and even the larger streets seemed almost deserted. Where was everyone?

He shook his head and took a bite of the sandwich. All of this didn't matter right now. Mr. Stark was everything that mattered. Everything else... everyone else... His heart stung as his thoughts circled back at the apartment. He had said some things, he wasn't proud of. Some things - no matter how true - that May hadn't needed to hear. She'd understand though. When everything was over, she'd understand. She just... she just had to.

They had just returned from the funeral and Peter was about to head to his room, lock the door and change. He was on a clock to meet Nebula.

"Peter, I need you to talk to me. Please."

He put away his shoes, careful not to bend over too far. If the haul he carried in his jacket's pockets would drop to the floor, the game would be up.

"There is nothing to tell. I just want some time to myself. Is that really too much to ask for?"

"Honey, you were lost for 5 years. Since you've been back you've spent every day in your room or... somewhere... I don't even know where you go. I finally have you back but you don't even want to stay in the same room with me for more than 5 minutes. I know you're hurting. I understand. I do, but I missed you so much. Please! Please, just let me be here for you!"

"There is nothing you can do to help me, May!" He turned to face her. "I get that you're worried, but there is nothing you can do. Nothing!"

It was hard to argue with her. Hard to argue against her reasonable anguish, her wish to be close to him after 5 years of separation when all those years had only been moments for him. She was still in so much pain and it hurt his heart to see her like that. Helpless, what to do with him. He'd make it up to her. Only one more day. The next day would end either in success or failure, but either way, it would end. Then he'd be all hers. But not now. Now he needed every minute to solidify his plan.

"Peter, I know you're blaming yourself for what happened to Tony. You need to stop. You know! You know he wouldn't want that!"  
He stopped in his tracks halfway to his room. He felt his temper being lit. Did nobody want to understand that all that didn't matter? He turned and stepped back closer to her, his heart beating so loudly, it muffled everything around him.

"I don't care what you think he wanted. I didn't want a lot of things to happen either. Did anyone care about that? Nooo!"

He turned to storm into his room, but May caught his arm, trying to hold him back.

"Peter, that's enough. What has gotten into you?!"

He tried to twist his arm free from her grasp without hurting her. Her hand had grabbed him just next to the nano housing units.

"Let go of me!"

"You do not get to run yourself against a wall after everything. I won't let you do that!"

"May, let go! I don't want to hurt you!" His words only a snarl pressed through his teeth.

"HEY!" Both of them froze. Their eyes shot over to the front door. Happy had just walked in, doorknob still in hand. "What the fuck is going on here?"

Peter relaxed his arm, still firmly in May's grasp, glaring at her. "You called Happy?"

May looked up at him, her face drawn in pain, her grip of his arm not wavering. "Of course, I did. We wanted to talk to you after the funeral but you were nowhere to be found!"

Happy closed the door behind him, stepping closer to Peter and his aunt.

"Okay, can we all just calm down for a minute? Kid, why don't you sit."

Peter threw his head back and groaned. He didn't want to sit. He didn't have time to sit. He didn't have time for any of this. He took a deep breath, trying to get his anger and frustration into check. Maybe he should just bold. Neither would be able to stop him. Hell, both working together would not be able to stop him. He'd risk hurting them in the process though. More than just emotionally. He definitely didn't want that, even if it would be the fastest way to get out of there. And he'd make a scene. Next thing he knew Happy would just call in someone else in and put them on his tail. Someone who might actually be able to derail his mission.

So, he sat. Arms crossed, he looked down to the floor ready to sit through whatever lecture May had planned. His eyebrows shot up when May simply sat down next to him. She clasped one of his hands securely in hers. Happy however stood tall in front of them.  
"Alright, kid. This... This can't go on like it has over the last week and a half. You're sad and you're angry and you want to mourn Tony in your own way. That's all fine. But you can't shut everyone out. You need to talk to someone. If you don't want to talk to any of us, we'll need to find someone else, okay."

Peter blinked. He looked over to May. "You... you want to send me to therapy?"

She squeezed his hand. "Honey, you've been through so much... You need to talk to someone who can help."

He shook his head in confusion. "You seriously think a therapist will be able to help me?"

His eyes turned back to Happy, who shifted from one leg to the other, wringing his hands. "Peter, we know that the things you've been through-"

"No! No, you don't." Peter took a deep breath, desperate not to lose his temper. "You don't know anything. You weren't there. Not on Titan. You didn't see him. Not at the Compound. You didn't have to fight him. His... his creatures. You didn't have to see what happened when Mr. Stark..." He stopped himself.

_Nope, not going there._

So instead, he ripped his hand out of May's and stood, his voice shaking with suppressed emotions. "You really think a therapist will help me make any sense of this. Thanos. Aliens. Being in space. Fucking portals and time travel and dimensional bullshit?"

"Peter!"

He turned to May shaking his head. "You have no idea what it means having to live with all that. To be told that... that... people went ahead and died for you. Not like on a big scale for the people including you kind of way, but in a you... you personally kind of way. All these people who keep saying we won, casually ignoring everything we've lost." He took a few more steps towards his room, backing away from them. "No, you don't get to tell me how to deal with all this. Nobody gets to."

Happy gritted his teeth, hissing through them, hands balled into fists. "That star-spangled idiot should have simply kept his mouth shut."  
Peter blinked. He couldn't remember having heard that much anger in Happy's voice before. "Jeez, Happy. Don't shoot the messenger."

"He had no right! No right!"

What was he so angry about? Had they not planned on... He snorted a humorless laugh. "What, where you just not ever gonna tell me?"

"That's not what I'm saying..." Happy shook his head. "But you needed time. How is anyone... anyone supposed to-"

"Mr. Stark told me." He blurted out.

Both Happy and May whipped around, staring at him with open-mouthed shock.

"So, even if you'd have wanted to keep all that from me. Mr. Stark, he... he left a message for me with Friday. That's where I was after the funeral. I... FRIDAY played me his message."

He looked back and forth between the two of them, expecting them to ask what Mr. Stark had said, but neither would, so Peter simply shrugged.

"He was fine with dying. So, you know. Whatever." He shrugged again at their expressions of utter shock. "You know what... Sure. Why don't you go ahead and make an appointment. Next Thursday would work well for me. Can I go now?"

He had left them in the living room, utterly dumbfounded, and made a point to be quick about changing into a more stealthy look, packing his equipment and off he was. He'd been an ass. He knew that. Neither May nor Happy had deserved his crude tone. They just wanted to help. But right now, there was no way around it. They'd stop him if they knew so they had to be kept in the dark. If everything worked out he would have the rest of his life to make it up to them. It would all be worth it in the end. He was gonna make this happen and was no room for distractions. No room for guilt. Not right now. He had a mission and he had his courage. Some of it at least. Enough to take a shot at this.

He turned up a little earlier at the rendezvous point than he was supposed to. Figure that. But they were on a clock anyways and if Nebula was already there, they might as well start early. The building looked just as broken down as most of the neighborhood did. He double checked the address. He was at the right place. It looked a bit dodgy though. Maybe he shouldn't fall through the front door. This was a delicate mission after all. He took a step back, craning his head. There had to be an access point on the rooftop. He made a quick decision and climbed the building's wall. No luck on the roof though. He tried the windows on the top level instead. Bingo! One of the windows slid open without any difficulty.

Once inside he took a look around. What looked like a regular abandoned apartment building from the outside had been turned into something like a huge storage facility. He carefully wriggled through a bunch of couches and piled up tables in order to get to the hallway. He was halfway through the room when it occurred to him that he might not get out of the unit if the door was locked, but it turned out there were no doors. Walking through the building, descending level after level, every single door turned up next to its hinges and inside the apartments was just so much stuff. Everything seemed lifeless and foreign and for the first time in days, the first time since the last big fight, he got an uneasy feeling. He could... he could engage the suit. Engaging the suit meant dealing Karen though. He hadn't talked to her since everything had happened. Maybe... maybe he wouldn't engage the suit. He'd been fine relying on his senses before he ever had a suit. Deep breath, alright. He was alright. Even though... even though he wasn't alone. He could sense it. Which was fine. It made sense. He was here to meet Nebula. Of course, there was someone in the building. She hadn't specified where they were supposed to meet, but how hard could it be to find her? He peeked into the open apartments, listening, feeling out the rooms. And where did all this stuff come from?

The further down he got the clearer he felt her presence. She had to be on the ground floor. Turned out down there was one last apartment left that did have a door still in place.

Peter took a deep breath, voice low, he only whispered to himself. "Well, I guess, this is me." He hesitated for one last moment. He had brought his courage. He could do this. With a swift motion, he turned the doorknob and walked into the apartment.

"DUDE! Did nobody ever teach you to knock?"

No Nebula after all. Instead, it was Lang, who had whirled around to face the door and was clutched his heart.

"Oh... Hi..."

"Oh, hi? Yeah._ Oh, Hi!_ to you too, Peter."

"I'm sorry... I was... not really expecting... well, you."

"She's not here yet."

That much Peter had figured by now. He turned to look around the room. A couple of couches and an armchair were placed around a coffee table. A larger table with three chairs stood by the wall on the other end of the room. A couple of lamps and a big bookcase with only a handful of books. All in all, it was furnished quite sparsely, especially compared to the other rooms in the building and the storage unit vibe those had been radiating.

Lang shrugged, following Peter's gaze. "When the Compound was destroyed I needed somewhere else to stay. Can you close that door behind you?"

Peter turned to shut the door, his nerves still on edge. "Why are there so many empty buildings around here with all that stuff? Where are all the people?"

Lang went to sit back down in the armchair he had just jumped out of. "We just had 3.5 billion people added back to our population and we didn't really give anyone a proper head's up what we were trying to do. Nobody seemed to have really appreciated the fact that all those people would need to eat something and our economy, agriculture, nothing has recently been anywhere close to what it was 5 years ago."

Peter was kneading his hands, walking back and forth around the room, his attention still on Lang.

"You weren't here for most of that though... right?" Lang had been the catalyst to all that had enfolded. To the Avengers' efforts. To that quest they had embarked on.

"Yeah, I was only here to witness the last couple of months. Still, it's easy to see why people left the city. There might be room, but there are no supplies. Or at least little supplies. People need something solid they can live on."

Peter nodded, his eyes still on Lang. He didn't really know anything about the guy. As far as Peter was aware he barely even knew Mr. Stark. In his book that made the man rather suspicious. Why was he in on this. Why? There really wasn't any time to tiptoe around it. No time that would allow Peter to carefully figure out the man's motivations discretly.

"What's your agenda here?"

Lang looked up at him, eyebrows raised. "My agenda?"

"Why are you doing this? You told Nebula I wanted to find a way to bring Mr. Stark back. Why?"

Lang shook his head, almost getting up, but then staying put. "It's... I mean, it's the right to do, right? After everything he did."

Peter bit his lip. His nerves were making his arms shake, putting his body on edgy. He crossed, his hands holding tightly onto his upper arms. "The... the Avengers don't seem to agree." He cleared his throat, pushing his emotions down.

"Yeah... no. I... I guess..." Lang got up, fumbling for something in his pocket. Peter frowned, tempted to take a step back. What was he doing? A moment later the man pulled out his wallet. He popped it open, steped closer to Peter and placed it into his hands.

"That's Cassie." Peter looked down at the picture of a little brown haired girl. "She... she's not that little anymore." Lang pressed out a chuckle. "She's like... she's 15 now. Which is just mental, but. Yeah. It is what it is."

Peter looked up at him, not sure he understood.

"She's incredible. She's so strong. But... when I was gone... I know now, what it did to her." He cleared his throat. "Stark's little girl... she's so young, so tiny. She... It's not fair, is it?" He looked up at Peter, his eyenbrows knitted together. "That after everything Stark did, that his family would have to suffer when everyone else got this second chance. Well, maybe not everyone but... many. Many of us."

Peter bit his lip, handing the wallet back over.

"If there's something I can do to help them... it's the right thing to do."

Peter didn't know what to say. This was unexpected. The genuine compassion in Lang's voice pushed brought up so many frustrations in him. The guy hardly knew Mr. Stark and still... he'd still help, because it was the right thing to do. Because it was just fair to Mr. Stark and his family. It all sounded so simple, so right, when Lang said it. Peter could feel his eyes getting wet, but he wouldn't... He pushed the emotions down and tried to form coherent thoughts. He never got around to answer Lang as orange sparkles suddenly appeared in the middle of the room, wiping Peter mind blank. Like second nature he tapped the housing unit and the Iron Spider formed around him.

Strange stepped into the room. "Well, it's good to see you too, Peter." Nebula walked up behind Strange, narrowing her black eyes as she recognized the Spider-Man suit.

"You told Strange? Strange? Are you insane?!" He let the mask retract to openly glare at Nebula. "If it wasn't for him, Mr. Stark would have never used the Stones! He's the one that made him do it! If it wasn't for him-"

"If it wasn't for him Stark would have died on Titan." Peter gaped at her. Titan. A cold shiver ran down his spine at the thought of that dead red planet.

"If it wasn't for him, Thanos would have won and we wouldn't have any hope to even attempt to save your father."

Strange's eyebrows shot up just as Lang whirled around to look at Peter in open mouthed shock. "Wait, Stark's your father?"

"What, no..." Peter shook his head, physically trying to rub the emotions off his face with one of his hands.

"Oh... my god. It all makes so much sense now. Why he was so hell-bend on saving you that he would actually risk-"

"Lang." Strange's voice rang through the apartment with a sharpness that echoed of the walls.

"He's not... he's not my father. That's not..." Peter groaned in frustration. If they really would pull all this of and got Mr. Stark back only for him to realize that people thought he was his son, Peter might have to make another reality jump just to escape the embarrassment.

"You Terrans have a weirdly limited grasp of family."

With a swish, Strange closed the portal. "It doesn't really matter who is related to whom."

Peter turned to Nebula. "Why is he here?!"

"We need someone who is sympathetic to our cause, who knows more about the multiverse than we do."

Peter shot a glare at the wizard. "Sympathetic to our cause..."

"I'm not unsympathetic to your cause, Peter." The wizard met his eyes with such strength and sincerity that Peter had to turn away, eyes flickering to Nebula and Lang before he crossed his arms, staring at the wall. His heart rate was erratic and his mind unable to focus. . . How was he supposed to trust any of them? Strange of all people... Rationally Peter was aware that Strange probably knew more about how this whole dimensional tangle worked than Nebula, Lang and him combined. But he trusted the wizard even less than Nebula. And he really only trusted her because he didn't have another option.

"Not unsympathetic... until it's convenient for you to stab me in the back. Again." His voice was low. He hadn't intended to whisper. He hadn't intended to say that out loud at all. But since he had, he turned back to the wizard who straightened his back and met Peter's eyes without a flicker of remorse.

"You said you wouldn't think twice to let Mr. Stark or me die. And you didn't, did you? You were fine to let him run into an open knife."

"That doesn't mean I liked the choice I had to make."

Peter huffed out a humorless laugh. "Oh, boo-hoo. You don't look like it bothered you at all, so forgive me if I don't believe a fucking word you say."

"Tony was ready to give his life to save billions. It's an honorable death and I would assist him in making the same choice again and again if the survival of the universe depended on him."

Peter turned away from him, tears stung in his eyes. Anger and despair constricted his throat. His lung was refusing to obey and he fought the sob that his body was bracing itself for.

"But all of that does not matter as to why we are here." The thick compassion in the wizards voice made him nauseous, made him want to lash out. Was he mocking him? Did he really seem that gullible? "Getting Stark back cannot reverse what he has done for the universe. If there's a way to give him back to his family, back to you, without it affecting the lives of billions, then I'm here for it."

Peter wiped the back of his hand across his eyes, aware that they were probably red and watery even as he turned to look at Strange.

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying convince me that there is a way without royally fucking over another timeline and I will help you."

Peter's glance shifted to Nebula for just a moment before it landed back on Strange. He cleared his throat, biting his lip.

"Mr. Stark traveled through the Quantum Realm to Manhattan in 2012. If we turn up there, he's already wearing the suit and has half a vile of Pym Particles left. If I explain what happened, we could reprogram his bracelet to the new platform and he would be able to travel back to this present. That would not effect our present."

Strange pursed his lips. "It is a n-dimensional universe. A multiverse. Finding the one timeline they are in is like looking for a needle in-"

"They are all wearing nano-tech bracelets."

"Oh..." They all turned to look over at Lang. "That's... wow. That's really clever. We can screen for nano vibrations. Nobody else would have even develed in nanotech in 2012."

Strange blinked once, turning back to Peter. "What about the rogue timeline those changes would create."

Peter shifter from one foot to the other. The more Strange knew, the easier he could interfere. His eyes flickered over to Nebula. She tilted her head, black eyes staring back at him. That was helpful... He looked back at Strange. _Here goes nothing._ "Cosmic energy can alter that shift and erase the rogue timeline."

Strange's eyebrows shot up, but Peter's eyes went over to Lang who had taken a couple of steps towards him. "Cosmic energy, wait... you want to use the Stones to erase a timeline? Is that even possible?"

Nebula cleared her throat behind them. "I doubt that we can get Banner excited for this plan and no mortal can use the Stones without perishing. That is kind of the reason we're here in the first place."

Peter turned to her. "We don't need to use all the Stones. One is quite enough."

She uncrossed her arms, shaking her head. "Peter no mortal can wield even a single one of these Stones. They are too powerful."

Strange cleared his throat. "Well... I mean, I have."

Peter bit his lip, looking back and forth between Nebula and the wizard when Lang sank back into his chair. "Guys... what does it matter? The Stones are destroyed."

"The Stones are in a brief case with Dr. Banner, to be returned to their original timeline some time in the next couple of days. And they do need to be returned."

Peter looked up at Strange. The wheels in the wizard's mind were turning. He met Strange's gaze. "I'm not suggesting they shouldn't be. But as long as they're still here..."

Lang jumped up and stepped forward, his hand stretched out in an attempt to slow them down. "Wait, we can't steal the Stones. The freaking Hulk is watching them like a hawk. With the rest of the Avengers hovering around him at all times."

"We wouldn't steal them. Only borrow one of them..." Peter had to force himself to stand his ground when Strange took two swift steps towards him, his face drawn in a sympathetic frown that Peter despised.

"Peter, listen. Yes. You're right. In theory. In theory what you're proposing would probably work, if everything is connected the way we think it is. And I would... I would be willing to help. I would be willing to risk it to repay part of the Universe's dept. To repay Tony for what he was willing to give for everyone else. But I can't. The Eye of Agamotto was destroyed. There is no way to access the power of the Time Stone without the relic. I don't know how and there is no time to find a suitable replacement. I've studied the Stone for years. If I can't do it, I'm not sure how you want to execute this."

Peter bit his lip, looking up at the wizard. "You don't have to worry about that. I have Mr. Stark's blueprints for the glove he built and I have some nanites to spare. By tomorrow, I'll have a substitute to mount the stone onto one of the bracelets, programed to access the power of the Stone."

Strange blinked at him, stunned into silence.

"You got your hands on Stark's files?"

Peter turned and saw Lang's jaw had dropped all the way to the floor. He shot a quick glance at Nebula before straightening his back and pulling his shoulders back.

"Why, yes. Mr. Stark gave me full access to his files."

Both Lang and Strange looked at each other in surprise, stunned into silence.

Nebula rolled her eyes. "Snap out of it, boys. We still have things to do."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5 **

With a motion of his hand, Strange opened another portal. Were they really expecting him to just come along into the wizard's lair? Peter was still on the opposite side of the room, a comfortable distance from Strange. He was avoiding Nebula's black stare. Those eyes alone could probably scare him into just going along with it.

"You and Lang need a place to work on the scanner. Somewhere we don't have to look over our shoulder all the time!"

"Yeah, I don't need to look over my shoulder when the backstabber's right in front of me." His hands shot up and massaged his temples. Memories from the spaceship and Titan clawed their way to the surface. Nope. Nope. Nope. The pressure of his fingers and groaned in frustration.

A quick rush of adrenalin struck him and his eyes flew open even before Nebula's hand closed around his wrist, pulling his hand off his face.

"Stop that. Do you want to save your father or not?"

Of course, he did.

The four of them were gathered in a huge library style room somewhere in the Sanctum. It definitely looked like a place out of this world, or at least out of this century. It was dark and almost entirely lit by candlelight. The heavy curtains wouldn't let in much light even on a sunny summer day. There were bookcases that went all the way up to the ceiling. One wall was equipped with ladders that gave access to a second level walkway lined with even more books. Peter was in awe of the place. Under any other circumstances, he could have lost himself flicking through all the knowledge gathered right in front of him. But now, only the quest was important.

He had the suit retract and detached one of the housing units. He placed it on the carpet between himself and Lang. He had Karen project his suits underlying coding in front of them and started hacking the code while Lang and Nebula first stared at him and then went to exchange confused glances.

"What are you doing, Parker?" Nebula stepped closer to him and studied the code.

"I'm disabling some of the monitoring functions so FRIDAY can't track me down if they were to start looking for me."

Strange was picking out a number of books from different places on the bookshelves. He spoke up and didn't even bother to turn and look at what Peter was doing.

"The Sanctum is protected. They wouldn't be able to find you here anyway."

Peter shook his head. "It's not just that. Karen monitors everything I do. Mr. Stark is recording everything I do when I'm in the suit and FRIDAY has access to all that. Video, audio, location, data files..."

Now Strange did turn to stare at him. "Are you telling me your suit has been broadcasting everything we have been discussing to Stark's AI meaning that Pepper Stark could access our entire strategy as soon as they start looking for you?"

Peter shrugged. "Well, yes and no. None of the data is automatically shared unless my vitals show that I'm in physical danger or extreme distress. She would still be able to access the files if she wanted to but she would need to actively ask FRIDAY to download them. But there is a loophole. Karen doesn't record anything if I'm out of the suit, so I just need to copy that part of the code and implement it as a default command for all of her coding and lock FRIDAY out of all the files Karen has access to. Voila!"

He closed the file with a pleased smile on his face. Strange's eyebrows shot up.

"How do you even know that the command would work?"

"It's a deal Mr. Stark and I made. He gets... he got to supervise my movements when I'm in the suit, but when I'm just... just Peter Parker... he promised me privacy. So, I just picked out that part of the code."

"And you believed him?" Strange had his eyes narrowed on him, but Peter didn't budge.

"He gave me his word."

"Peter, Tony's prime focus would have been to protect you. There is no way-"

"He gave me his word." His face was set, daring the wizard to contradict him. Like he'd known anything about Mr. Stark.

"Peter-"

He fixed his eyes on Strange, staring him down. "I get that this is hard for you to understand, but Mr. Stark would never betray me like that."

Lang cleared his throat and managed to get the attention of the room. "How did you even know how to do this?"

"I've always known how to do this."

The man frowned. "Why didn't you do it sooner then? I'm sure there were plenty of times you'd have wanted to fly something under the radar."

Peter shrugged. "I did it once. My friend Ned and I, we disabled the tracker and Mr. Stark..." Peter shook his head. His face felt slightly hot. "He wasn't amused. He was... he was pretty mad. He took away my suit for a bit and even threatened I'd never get it back." Peter shrugged again at Lang's raised eyebrows. "He can scream at me as much as he wants when we get him back. I don't care if he takes the suit. And if... if it doesn't work. Well, then it doesn't matter, right? He'll never know."

Lang grimaced, a sheepish look on his face, just as Strange turned back to the bookshelves. No objections from his partners in crime so they moved on. Peter and Lang brainstormed on how to implement a scanner for nano vibrations into the platform. The stick carrying Mr. Stark's files was connected to the nano housing unit and Karen was projecting a hologram of the platform's wiring plan for both of them to study.

"We are all in agreement that this mission should be run under the radar, right? If we don't want the Avengers to catch up to what we're doing we'll have to be fast about this. The platform is monitored at all times. We can either try to convince them of the plan or we'd need a distraction, that draws them away from it." Lang slowly walked circles around the hologram. "If we don't let them in on the plan, we'd have to prepare the scanner in advance so it would only have to be interposed with the unit." He stopped and pointed his pen at a precise point of the projected control system.

Strange still had his back turned to them, looking through the shelves. "We would have to convince both Dr. Banner and Captain Rogers in order to guarantee us access to the platform. They would also have to give up one of the Stones. Banner is incredibly precautious when it comes to messing with the timelines. My understanding is that he received a stern talking to from The Ancient One and I don't blame him for being extremely wary after that. She could be a handful. And scary as hell."

Peter screwed up his face and turned to look into Strange's direction. "Who's the Ancient One?"

"She was Sorcerer Supreme before me."

His eyebrows shot up in disbelieve. "What, and she was scarier than you?"

Strange just shook his head. "And Rogers basically doesn't trust anything he deems super-natural."

"Which is more than a little hypocritical considering that he's not all that organic and grass-fed himself."

Again, Strange ignored Peter's interjection and instead continued his line of thought. "I think that utilizing the element of surprise would be in our best interest."

"Cap was the one who brought up the time heist to Stark. I mean, he could be game." Lang still had his eyes fixed on the circuit plan and wrote down a few notes on a piece of paper in front of him.

Peter shook his head. "He was very much not game for it when I originally suggested it."

Lang pinched his nose. "Yeah, that's true. I mean they _really_ weren't into it when Peter brought it up and I guess it's doubtful that they would let themselves be convinced within the next day and a half."

Nebula had been quietly pacing on the other of the room, but now nodded slowly. "I agree. If they don't agree right away they will be unwilling to postpone the return of the Stones as well. We have a very narrow window of opportunity here. We can't afford lengthy debates on this. We need to get on with it."

Strange turned to her, eyebrows raised. "We can definitely afford lengthy discussions. And there will be nothing that we _get on with_ before we've ruled out every possibility that this whole thing will jeopardize a timeline to an unknown degree."

Peter froze, his blood ran cold. Lang was faster than him though. "Wait... I thought you're on board with this?"

Strange carried a pile of books to the armchair opposite Peter and Lang and dropped the books on its side table. "I am. So far. There are still a bunch of variables that I will need to double check. As far as that's possible with the knowledge we have." He let himself fall into the chair. His cloak fluttered off his back, zipped around the room and flew circles around them before settling somewhere between Strange and Peter and Lang's impromptu workstation.

"But yes, there certainly isn't time to talk Banner out of his insecurities or convince Captain Rogers."

Lang met Peter's eyes and pursed his lips, giving him an uncertain but slightly encouraging smile. Peter only sighed, his focus back on the model. It was no use to worry about Strange at this point. His involvement was now out of Peter's control.

"Karen, can you magnify the wiring of the control panel?"

The nanites had formed a little speaker adjacent to the housing unit, where her voice was streaming from.

_**"Of course, Peter."**_

They had finished the first rough framing of the scanner about 2 hours later. They decided to let it sit for a few hours and look at it again with a bit of detachment later on. They focused on the bracelets instead and Lang explained to Peter how they used them to travel and simultaneously stay linked to their reality.

Around midnight Lang disappeared to one of the rooms upstairs. Nebula had left them even before that, bound to scout out the area around the newly erected platform close to the ruins of the Compound and show her face with the team to check out how the Stones were currently stored and guarded.

So now, it was only Strange and him.

Strange still flicked through the pages of the books he had collected earlier. Peter worked on the bracelet that was going to be able to access the power of the Time Stone. He had already taken apart another one of the bracelets and used its parts. Karen was projecting Mr. Stark's records of the glove he had built and Peter tried to focus on the task at hand. That wasn't all that easy. As it turned out his thoughts wanted to roam free, wonder about their chances of success. What if it didn't work? What if the Avengers found him? How could he stop them if they came for him?

"Do you know?" His voice was smaller than he had anticipated, so quiet in fact for a moment he wondered if Strange had even heard him. But the wizard looked up at him, eyebrows raised.

"If it'll work. Was this... was this part of what you saw?" Peter had only risked a short glance at the wizard, his eyes back on the project in front of him.

Peter heard the book shut and felt the wizard turn and face him directly. "No. No, I don't know."

He still had his eyes locked on the model in front of him. What were the chances that Strange would even tell him the truth? He could just lie. Peter would never know until it was too late. Maybe the only reason that Strange was still sitting there, flicking through a bunch of random books, was because he didn't want Peter to be left alone with all those books completely unsupervised. Maybe he was just keeping an eye on him because the Avengers had asked Strange to keep him occupied?

Peter bit his lip and pulled himself together, not allowing his head to shake in reflex in order to force the thoughts out of his mind.

"I understand that you're wary, Peter. I understand that you don't trust me."

His gaze was still fixed on the bracelet that lay in front of him, but his hands had frozen and he wasn't really seeing the model. No, of course, he didn't trust him. How could he, after everything his fucking vision of the future had initiated. So what? Did Strange expect him to deny the obvious?

"There is a bit of a problem with your plan."

That did make him whirl around and stare at the wizard.

"Well, two problems actually. For one I did find a workaround that I am willing to risk. The other one, well, that would be up to you, I think."

Peter's throat was dry. He wanted to swallow his panic, but the motion was painful. "What... what problems?"

"You are right, in theory, that cosmic energy is the only force strong enough to actually change a timeline. To erase a splintered off rouge alternative. But when the Ancient One and Banner were talking about that particular approach, it was only referring to those realities that were created by taking a Stone from that timeline in the first place. Replacing the stone will erase the rouge alternate reality. But the point where you want to interject is before Stark and subsequently, Rogers and Banner have left. Before a Stone was taken out of the timeline."

Peter's mouth fell open. His hands shook and he blinked repeatedly to counter the stinging of his eyes.

"Peter, breath." Strange's hands lay in his lap and clasped one another. His gaze was fixed on Peter. "That's the part I think we can work around."

Peter swallowed again, but his mouth was still dry and the attempt made his throat hurt.

"I cannot figure out how to use the Time Stone to _erase_ a timeline that I would simultaneously reside in. But what I _can _do is rewind time with the stone after you left with Stark. That would still leave us with an additional timeline, but it would be identical to the one that the original time jump created by the time I leave it. There is still a probability that this timeline would develop differently than the one the Avengers created, depending on other choices people might make, but it would not be a result of our interference and those are consequences that I deem acceptable."

Peter tried to breathe evenly and flexed his hands, desperate to stop the shaking. He mulled over what Strange had just told him. "Wait, you... you would rewind time? Am I..." Peter frowned and looked straight at the wizard. "Am I supposed to find you in 2012 to... to-"

"No. I will be accompanying you on your quest."

Peter's eyes bulged. "Oh... oh... you. Right. You're coming with me."

Strange raised his eyebrows again. "It's only sensible. Your approach requires the use of the Time Stone. Even with your device to access its energy, the Time Stone needs skill to be wielded. I have studied the Stone for years and thus I am the most qualified candidate."

"Right."_ Great. Just great._ Peter rubbed the bridge of his nose with shaky fingers.

"Is there something I can do? Something that would help you trust me."

His eyes flickered up to Strange for a moment before he turned them right back down to the carpet again.

"I... No." Peter held onto his courage and looked up to meet the wizard's eyes. "No, there isn't."

Strange held his gaze. Maybe he should have lied instead. How could he ever trust the wizard? Only a few days ago he had told Mr. Stark that he wouldn't hesitate to let either of them die in order to protect the universe. And he had held that promise. He'd let Mr. Stark die. Peter's eyes stung again._ Damn it._ He cast them down and blinked away the burning sensation of fresh tears. Could he not just stop crying about something for like 5 minutes. They already treated him like a child. Crying all the time didn't really help his image with the wizard.

Peter exhaled deeply, clearing his throat. "What's... what's the other problem."

He looked back up and found Strange's gaze still fixed on his face.

"You are assuming that Stark would just leave his timeline to come with you. That he would first of all trust that it is you. You are assuming that he would simply be on board, without much time to consider the consequences." Strange paused giving Peter a moment to digest what he had just said. "I think you are underestimating his will to save his family no matter the cost. Even if the cost is his own life. And I think you are overestimating his willingness to risk us being right over the consequences it would have if we were wrong."

Peter felt his throat constricting. He coughed and broke eye contact with the wizard. With a swift motion, he jumped off the floor, turned his back on Strange and fled to the farthest corner of the room. Before he had even reached the far off wall, hot tears ran down his cheeks after all. His breathing hitched and he hated himself more and more every second. How would he ever be able to pull this off?

"Peter, just... calm down, there-"

"Don't tell me what to do!" The words were hissed over his shoulder in the wizard's direction.

_Damn it._ He wiped his hands over his face. _Fuck. Fuck. Fuck._

His thoughts wandered back to Mr. Stark's message.

_"Don't feel bad about this."_

_"If you are sitting here, then I fixed what I wanted to fix."_

_"I am fine if I am the prize I have to pay."_

_"I love you, kid."_

He threw his head back, eyes up on the ceiling. He tried to breathe as slowly and deeply as possible.

_**"Peter, FRIDAY is trying to send a message through for you."**_

His head whirled around at the nano housing unit, his mind suddenly blank.

"Peter?" Strange frowned.

He felt his hands shake, eyes still fixed on the speaker. He took a couple of steps towards the housing unit, his gaze not shifting. "Shit... they're probably looking for me?"

"Who is?"

"My aunt. Happy. Maybe... maybe Pepper. I... it's pretty late."

"Oh." Peter looked up at him. "They are looking for you. You... I didn't realize. You should have gone home."

Peter shook his head. "I... I can't." The wizard frowned and Peter forced his voice not to shake, to hide his inner terror. "They sat me down. Today. They... they were not happy with..." He closed his eyes in frustration and bit the insides of his cheek to force his body to stop shaking.

"They are not happy with how you are handling things."

He looked up at the wizards, another wave of tears stung in his eyes. He couldn't even tell if they were fueled by his grief or his frustration at this point. "I don't need a lecture."

Strange was still sat in his chair, his arms clung to the armrests. He looked like he had to force himself to stay put.

"I was not trying to lecture you. I understand that this is hard on you. But Peter... we need to keep a low profile. If they start looking for you, the element of surprise on this might be rendered moot."

Peter exhaled deeply. "I can't go home. I need to finish the bracelet. And review what we've done with the scanner when Lang's up. We don't even know how to get the Stone yet. I... I have no time to lull them in as well. What if they refuse to let me leave again?"

The wizard rested his head in his right hand and rubbed his temples.

"Karen, did you tell FRIDAY that I received the request."

_**"Of course, Peter. She's waiting for you to approve the connection."**_

Peter cursed under his breath.

"They can't find you here, Peter."

"I know..." He was pacing.

"Just... just tell them you're staying with a friend."

He shot a glance over to Strange. The wizard rolled his eyes. "I know that we are not friends. But I am sure you have other friends that you could use as an alibi."

Peter nodded. "Karen put FRIDAY through."

"Peter?"

He breathed in deeply. He had expected FRIDAY to at least talk to him first, but she had put him through right away.

"Hello, Ms..." He shook his head and slowly exhaled through his teeth. "Hi, Pepper."

"Where are you, Peter? May is losing her mind."

Her voice was thick with emotion and he felt guilt crawling up his spine.

"Peter, talk to me."

"I'm with friends. I'm fine."

"You need to stop. You need to go home!"

He closed his eyes and tried to keep his heart rate slow. "Pepper, I just need some space. I need time. I'll-"

"Stop bullshitting me, Pete. Do you think that after _years _of living with Tony I don't know what the fuck is going on? You need to stop. Right now." His eyes darted over to Strange as her voice was breaking. "Please. Please, just go home."

The wizard's face was unreadable. All he did was raise one of his eyebrows as Peter's pulse was about to make his heart burst.

"I... I will." He closed his eyes again as he forced the lie over his lips. "I'm not doing anything stupid, I promise. I just need some space. I'll... I'll be home. I'll be home tomorrow."

"He's gone, Pete. If something happens to you, it was all for nothing."

"Pepper..." A cold wave ran through his body and left him with goosebumps from head to toe. His hands were shaking as his eyes darted back to Strange. He didn't know what to do and the wizard sure didn't look like he was going to help.

"If something happens to you, I lost my husband for nothing, Pete. Morgan, she-"

"Nothing will happen to me. Everything... I'll be alright."

"I don't believe you, kid. Please. I don't want you to do this."

I swallowed deeply, hoping it would steady his voice. "Yes, you do."

"No, Peter! No, I don't!"

Her voice was low and quiet. He took a deep breath, sunk down to his knees next to the nano housing unit.

"Yes, you do." He whispered back.

She was quiet for a moment. Peter had thought that she would try to deny it, but to his surprise, she stayed quiet for a lot longer than he had anticipated so he took another deep breath before he continued.

"He made a mistake, Pepper. What he did... sure, he saved so many people, but it shouldn't have been him. It's not just his life that he risked, but yours and Morgan's... and mine."

"Pete..."

"I know how much you miss him. How much you need him. Don't try to pretend that you wouldn't risk everything if there was a chance." He bit his lip and added with a huff. "Except Morgan, of course."

"And you, Pete. And you! Please..."

S was clearly crying now and he swallowed the lump in his throat as he closed his eyes and felt a couple of tears run down his face. With all his might he held on to that little warm ball of hope inside himself and forced his voice to stay strong.

"I know, Pepper. I know... But when it comes to me, it's not your decision to make." A muffled sob rang through the line and made him press his hands into the carpet as an effort to steady himself. "That's only for me to decide. But I promise you... I promise that I'm not being stupid. I'm not being reckless. I... I don't want to die, Pepper. I don't want to do that to May. Or... or any of you. Please... Please, just trust me. Mr. Stark did. He trusted me."

His voice was about to break when the door flew open and Nebula stalked into the room. She looked at him, black eyes wide as she saw Peter crouched down on the floor. She was about to speak when Strange suddenly rose out of his chair and gestured at her to be quiet.

Peter cleared his throat. "Mr. Stark gave me access to all his files on the Quantum Realm. He trusted me with it. Please, Pepper. I need to at least try."

Pepper's voice, thick with tears, streamed out of Karen's speakers. "Tony would never go for it. He'd never risk abandoning a timeline to an unknown fate. You know he wouldn't. Not even..." _Not even for you._ But she left it unsaid or was unable to continue working through the strong emotions that threatened to sweep him away even from a distance.

He pulled himself together. The was no room for doubt now. There was only him and he would just have to be enough. "What if I found a loophole? What... what if it could be done?"

"Pete..."

"Just trust me, Pepper. Please. Just this once. I promise... I promise I'm not being reckless."

The line stayed quiet and Peter pressed his own hands even tighter against the floor. Eyes once again closed, he sent out a silent prayer to whoever if anyone was out there rooting for him.

"Tell him that I love him. Pete, tell him I need him."

He silently nodded. Exhaling with relief, he wiped his face, his voice at a breaking point. "I will. I'll tell him."

"Please, come back to us. Don't..." another muffled sob made Peter wipe away another set of tears from his face. "Don't do anything stupid like Tony would."

Peter barked out a teary laugh. "I'll do nothing he would do." He sniffed. "And nothing he wouldn't do." All of a sudden Nebula's feet came to a halt next to him.

"Pepper, we need you to call the Avengers tomorrow at 5 pm. Tell them what Peter is trying to do. Tell them to go to the platform."

Peter's eyes widened, he looked over at Strange, whose eyes were fixed on her.

"Nebula?"

"Yes, it's me."

"What... are you-"

"I'm helping Peter. We need your help. Tomorrow at 5 pm. Call them. Tell them how worried you are. Tell them he enlisted my help. Ask them to stop him."

"Pete..."

"I..." His eyes shot up and met her black seemingly bottomless gaze. "It's going to be alright." He exhaled deeply, frowning at her.

"Alright... alright then." Pepper's voice was thin and quiet.

"Tell May not to worry. I'll be fine. We'll be alright."

He asked Karen to cut the connection before he wiped his hands over his face again and got up to his feet.

"What was that about?"

"The Stones are in a lab that Pym rented out in Brooklyn. We need them to leave the lab so we can get you the Stone."

"Get me the Stone."

Nebula turned around to look at Strange, then had her eyes back on Peter.

"Doctor Strange is coming with me. To... to wield the Stone."

Peter could see her contemplate the change of plan and nod. "Good. We can get two vials of particles at the same time as the Stone. Pym has been working on a new batch for the return of the Stones. Where's Lang?"

Peter scratched his neck and suppressed a yawn. "He went upstairs to lie down."

"And so should you."

He rolled his eyes at her. "I still need to finish the bracelet. Why did you tell Pepper to send the Avengers my way? That's crazy! What if they do stop me?"

Nebula shock her head once. "We need as many of them to leave the lab as possible. When it's both of us they'll not just send Rogers or Banner. I got myself on guard duty at the platform for tomorrow afternoon. If they hear that I'm working with you, they'll bring the whole team to try and stop us."

Peter frowned. "I don't know... that sounds like an awful plan! Why not just send them somewhere else?"

Strange stepped up to them. "They need to be presented with a credible threat. Nebula is right. This will do nicely to get them away from the Stones."

A cold shiver ran down Peter's spine at the thought of the full force of the Avengers heading his way.

"I can stay behind to get the Stone. Even if a couple of them were to stay behind, they are no match for me. I'll portal to join you at the platform as soon as I have the Stone. I should get there with plenty of time to spare."

Peter frowned. "Won't they ask you to come along? You could just portal me away from the platform. It's literally the quickest way."

Nebula turned to Strange. "You'll tell them that Peter doesn't trust you. That he blames you for Stark's death. Your presence would just escalate the situation."

He looked over at Strange and bit his lip. The wizard met his eyes.

"There's enough truth in that to make it believable."

Peter cast his eyes down, nodded wordlessly. He let himself fall back onto the carpet and picked up the bracelet.

"Peter. Get some rest."

"Seriously, Nebula. You sound like May."

Peter woke up and his head hurt. He ran a hand across his face. He found himself in bed in a room he didn't recognize. With a deep breath, he frowned at the heavy, dark curtains on the windows and the tall wooden cabinet on the -

He jumped out of the bed and massaged his temples as he went for the door. Of course. He was at the Sanctum and there was no time to be sleeping. He looked up and down the hallway unsure where to go so he took a breath and reached for his Spidey-senses inside himself. Where were they… He just needed to pick up those familiar vibes... Ah.

He found the staircase without much trouble and the big study just as quickly. All three of them were gathered in the room, but only Lang looked up as Peter entered.

"What time is it and who knocked me out and put me in bed?" His voice was still raspy with sleep.

"That would be me." Strange didn't even look up from his book. "We told you to rest."

"And I told you I need to finish the damn bracelet first!"

"Parker, don't be a baby. We need your brain to function properly and that's not going to happen if you don't rest." Nebula was spread across the armchair Strange had occupied the night before.

"Karen, time?"

"Good morning, Peter. It's 8:42 in the morning."

He groaned and rubbed his temples again. "Seriously, Strange, what did you do to my head?"

"That's not me. That's your exhaustion. Go and lie down again!"

Peter rolled his eyes and sat down next to Lang on the floor. Quietly Lang filled him in on all the adjustments they still needed to make on the scanner. As he was working on the details, Lang went out to get some food and coffee for them. The hours went by way too fast. The scanner looked like it would work, but there was no way to test it. He'd have to connect it to the platform and just hope that they had done everything right.

The bracelet took less time to be perfected thanks to Mr. Stark's detailed description of the glove. Shortly after midday Nebula left to guard the platform and around the same time Lang and Strange, the bracelet ready to hold the stone hidden underneath his tunic, went out to meet the Avengers at Pym's Brooklyn lab.

Peter's nerves were at an all-time high. They didn't have any way to communicate. He'd be responsible to pack up the scanner and would make his way up to the platform by himself. He scarfed down the rest of the doughnuts. Maybe the sugar rush could give him enough energy to fight against the fear and doubt that was surely creeping up in him. He put on the bracelet, stowed away the scanner in a backpack Lang had given him and activated the Iron Spider.

_**"Hello again, Peter." **_

"Hi, Karen."

_**"Your heart rate is significantly elevated." **_

"Yeah, don't expect that to go down any time soon..."

He could do it. If anyone could do it, it would be him. He closed his eyes and pictured that ball of warmth pulsing in his stomach before he shouldered the backpack and left the building through one of the upper floor windows. It took him a good hour and a half to make it out to the former Compound. His movements slowed down when he saw the ruins in the distance. He hadn't been back here since... well, since that day. Since the fight. His muscles shivered, but not from exhaustion. He took deep breaths and decided to take a bit of a detour so he could avoid most of the rubble.

Slowly he stalked up to Nebula, who was sitting next to the platform, waiting. He didn't worry about being stealthy so she heard him approach and turned to him.

"Good. Get started. I'll keep an eye out just in case."

She jumped up and disappeared in the woods. Now it was just Peter alone with the platform. There was no time to waste. Everything had to be ready by the time Strange arrived with the Stone and the particles, but thankfully the hardest part of implementing the scanner had been done at the Sanctum. He had Karen project the blueprint for him and opened up the control unit.

He had been at it for barely 15 minutes when all of a sudden something felt very wrong. He could feel the hair on his arms struggle against the tight suit as they tried to stand up.

"Peter. We have a problem."

He had sensed them approaching before Nebula had walked up to warn him, but didn't bother to look up to acknowledge their arrival. He had things to get done and there was no time to be wasted by visually confirming what he already knew. Rogers and the rest of his team had come to try and stop him. Something had not gone according to their plan.

"We can't let you do this, kid. I'm sorry." He blinked, eyes fixed on the control panel's wiring and just let Rogers' voice roll off him.

"Peter... please. Please, stop."

His heart froze in his chest when he recognized May's voice. The agony that was radiating from her made him freeze in place, after all. His hand still hovered over the control unit of the platform.

"Honey, please... please..." She struggled to speak through her tears. "Please, stop this."

She'd never forgive him for this. After years of loss, the euphoria of having him back and the instant sobering when she realized just how broken he was, he'd already ripped her heart straight out. All that was left for him if he continued with this was to break it into a million pieces. That would be solely on him.

He jerked as an orange dome engulfed himself and the platform. He turned his head to see Strange walk up. With a few quick strides, he jumped onto the platform. The Time Stone glistened on the bracelet that Peter had modified.

"Good evening, gentlemen. Mrs. Parker." He nodded in their direction. "We'll be with you in just a moment."

That was Peter's cue to finish his work. What the hell had happened in that lab? He shook the question from his mind. No time for that now! He glanced over to the projection of the altered circuit layout and worked as quickly as he dared.

"What the..." Rogers advanced a couple of steps just as Banner stormed past him towards the dome. The professor threw a punch against the protective shield, which sent him flying back and left a skid mark in the grass the size of a creek bed. Peter flinched as red energy circled the platform, but nothing could penetrate Strange's dome.

"Strange, what in the world are you doing?!" Roger's voice echoed inside the dome, but the wizard stayed quiet. Peter could feel the Captain's eyes settle back on him. "Don't do this, Peter. I know, that you don't want to hear this. I know you hate that Tony gave his life for you, but he did! And risking yourself like this is a poor way of repaying him. You know that. You know he wouldn't want this. If he could he would demand you to stop!"

"Honey, please... please don't. Please..."

Peter's eyes flickered over to Rogers before they came to rest on his aunt. Happy held her back or she would have probably tried to break through the magical field with her bare hands. His chest tightened from the agony in her face. He needed to concentrate, damn it. Peter had already made his choices and yes, it would break her heart, but he would be back. He would come back and he would put every single piece of it back together. A painful shot of pain squeezed his heart tightly. He shot a quick glance over his shoulder where Nebula slowly stalked out of the woods again.

"It's time, Peter." Strange's voice was strong and clear.

Peter's eyes flickered back to May. He gave the tiniest nod in response to Strange and turned his eyes back on his work. Quickly he connected the last of the scanner's wires and turned on the device. His heart was beating in his throat as his eyes were fixed on the process bar. Now they would find out if he and Lang had pulled off the impossible. If they could find the needle in that giant intergalactic haystack. Peter tore his eyes away from the screen and turned his gaze on Rogers.

"You're right, Captain. Mr. Stark would tell me to stop. He would tell me that he was fine with giving up his life for me. He would tell me to go and live my life, just like I would have told him to stay in the fucking woods with his family."

Coordinates popped up on the scanner's display and Peter felt a hot wave of excitement mixed with anxiety and relief wash over him.

"In fact, he did tell me all of that. And now, I will go and tell him exactly what I think of it." He felt the bracelet on his arm vibrate as it received the coordinates and with a couple of motions he had opened the lock on the Quantum tunnel. The cries of his Aunt rang in his ears but he was quick to jump up to stand next to Strange. He disengaged the Iron Spider only to have the Quantum suit form around him. With shaking hands, he inserted the vial of Pym Particles that Strange handed him.

"Don't do this, Peter," Banner called out to him. Rogers shook his head and ran his hand through his hair, desperate to do something. But they wouldn't stop them now. Roger's eyes wander over to Strange. "Doctor Strange, don't-"

The Doctor turned to Peter. "Go."

Peter looked back over to May and Happy. He whispered a soft "Sorry." before he engaged the Quantum Suit without hesitation. The reality around him disappeared.

_(author's note: thank you guys for reading! reviews are love ;) Let me know if you like it.)_


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

They arrived instantly in an ally way somewhere in Manhattan. Battle noises made both him and Strange look up into the sky. Chitauri flew through the air in the distance above. All around them lay debris and destruction. Peter's heart was beating in a fast, nervous rhythm. A sense of nausea was threatening to overtake that warm ball of courage he'd been holding onto. May, begging him to stop. Her face. Her tears. His heart was aching for her. For what he was putting her through. Again.

He exhaled trembling deep breaths and disengaged the Quantum Suit, which retraced back into the bracelet. Now, his hand could rise up to wipe the moisture from his eyes. Strange was cordial enough not to comment or indifferent enough not to bother. With that dude he'd never know.

"What happened?" Peter's voice came out thickly charged with emotion. He gave his head one strong shake to banish May's pleading face from his mind.

"They'd already left the lab when Lang and I got there. But that's not important now."

"Right."

Strange turned back and forth, looking up and down the street. It was empty. "Stark and Lang should be around here somewhere. They have to be."

Peter nodded and took deep breaths in an attempt to control his erratic pulse. Focus. He needed to focus. This was it. There was no room for mistakes. With another deep breath, he closed his eyes and concentrated on his senses. Tony Stark. His mentor. The man that had become a father figure... a... a father to him... He was the epitome of security and comfort. Peter would feel his presence. He would find him.

Strange jerked away from him in surprise as he whirled around. Through the dirty windshield of a battered car, Tony Stark and Scott Lang stared right at them.

Peter straightened his back. Yes, there he was. Mr. Stark, wide-eyed and gaping. Peter bit the insides of his cheeks to suppress a sob. He couldn't screw this whole thing up now. He just couldn't but his body was betraying him. His heart would jump out of his chest at any moment. Strange stepped up beside him but Peter kept his eyes focused on the man that he had thought he'd never see again.

Without even a glance in Strange's direction, his feet moved closer to the car. One foot in front of the other. Deep breaths. That pulse of his sounded like a demolition hammer was trying to lay waste to his eardrums. The mixture of complete elation and petrifying anxiousness made his whole body tremble with adrenaline. How long would he be able to keep himself from breaking down? From losing the last bit of control over all of it? The closer he got the better he could take in Mr. Stark's face.

The ally way was calm. It was just them. The battle noises echoing from a few blocks away were either drowned out by the buildings around them or simply not penetrating Peter's focus on what was important right in front of him. Without the chaos that they had found themselves in on that battlefield in 2023, those 5 years and what they had actually done to his mentor hit him hard. It was Tony Stark alright, just... different. Dark rings under his eyes. Darker than... well, darker even than after Germany. The same lines that were etched on May's face also marked his. The man's eyes were still locked on him until Lang's arm reach over to grab him. The two men looked at each other for a moment before they jumped out of the car.

Mr. Stark's hand hovered closely over his chest. The nano housing unit was just waiting to be engaged. Peter came to a stop, only a couple of car lengths separated him from Mr. Stark. Strange followed and stepped up next to him. The other two men stood shoulder to shoulder at the hood of the car. Lang's chin had dropped. His glance wandered back and forth between Peter and Strange. Peter's focus, however, remained on his mentor. Mr. Stark was staring right at him just the same, his eyes wide, his chest moved with strong deep breaths. Peter focused on his senses and the sound of his mentor's fast-beating heart washed over him, the rhythm just as erratic as his own. Strong and alive.

"Tony. Mr. Lang." Strange's voice was casual and calm. It sent a shiver down Peter's spine. He wasn't alone in this. Who would have thought that Strange's presence would ever bring him relief like that? He took a deep breath, willing it to soothe his nerves. He wasn't alone.

"What... what is this?" Lang's voice was hushed and high pitched.

Peter's eyes were still on Mr. Stark. This situation was delicate. Peter had had time to prepare for this. Granted not a lot of time, but some. Some time to prepare for seeing them. Seeing him. And still, his pulse was all over the place. But for Mr. Stark and Lang there had been no preparation period. No chance to take a deep breath before they'd jump into this craziness. Just a shock to the core. Even though both men were out of their own time themselves and surely acquainted with a certain level of crazy mumbo-jumbo by now, Peter and Strange were supposed to be dust. The very reason the team had traveled to 2012 in the first place. His mentor would just need a little time to accept that he was here. That he was really there. Just a few steps, that was all that lay between them. Just a few steps and he could _confirm _that Mr. Stark was really there, looking at him. That this could actually work.

"Pete?"

His voice was different. So broken and strained, it raised the hairs on Peter's neck. He nodded quickly, wanted to smile, but his face only trembled with nerves. Instead, he cleared his throat.

"Hi... Hi, Mr. Stark."

The man's eyes were round in wonder, glistening with emotion. His hand dropped from his chest to his side but before he could take a step towards them Lang's arm reached out for him and held him in place.

"Wait... What... Why are you not dead?" Mr. Stark's face whirled over to glance in Lang's direction. The man shrugged and then grimaced at Mr. Stark. "Sorry... I mean. Like... how..." He shook his head, looking back and forth between Strange and Peter. "No, seriously. You're... you're both dead. What... You-"

"We will explain everything in a moment. We should wait for Captain Rogers to show up," Strange interrupted Lang's ramble.

Lang's eyes wandered over to Mr. Stark and then back to Strange. "How do you-"

"That's what you told us had happened. Would happen. Assuming that our arrival has not created a shift yet." Both men just stood, frozen to the ground underneath them, their eyes firmly on Strange. "After the two of you failed and let Loki escape with the Tesseract, you waited for Captain Rogers who had managed to get a hold of the scepter. You met up here, where you had arrived traveling back in time from 2023, and needed a new plan to get your hands on the Tesseract. Tony will come up with that solution."

Lang's chin had dropped. But Peter winced when Mr. Stark's hand shot back up again. But he didn't go for the nano unit on his chest. He clasped it over his mouth, eyes locked on the ground in front of him. His hand, however, couldn't stifle the snort that came out of his mouth.

Lang's eyes widened. Peter's breathing hitched in surprise. He couldn't keep his feet still any longer and had to shift his weight from one foot to the other or he would just burst with nerves. What was happening? He glanced over at Strange. The Doctor had his eyes locked on Mr. Stark. At another snort, Peter turned back. His mentor's shoulders shook, hand still firmly pressed over his mouth. Oh god, he was freaking out!

"Dude... this isn't funny!"

Another snort from Mr. Stark and he whispered a shaky "Sorry" in Lang's direction. His hand's came up to rub at his eyes and he exhaled deeply. "Oh, fuck... oh fucking shit, we fucked it all up, didn't we..."

"Mr. Stark..."

"Not yet, Peter." Strange held out a hand to stop him and Peter bit the inside of his cheeks to stay silent. He kneaded his hands. They had wanted to wait for Rogers, but they needed to do something _now_! He shot another glance over to Strange and a loud creak made his head turn back. Mr. Stark had leaned back against the hood of the car, face buried in his hand.

"It's a fucking time loop. Oh god, we fucked up!"

Lang met Peter's eyes. Peter shook his head and the man looked over to Strange instead. "I... I don't think that's what's happening here..."

Mr. Stark's hands slapped down onto his thighs, finger clenched the fabric of his pants. His head whirled around to stare daggers at Lang. "Look at them." He was pointing at Peter and Strange but avoided every glance in their direction as he hissed at Lang. "They haven't aged a day! We opened up a fucking gate somewhere!"

Lang just frowned. "I didn't age when I was trapped in the Quantum Realm either."

Mr. Stark dropped his hand. "You didn't?"

"Hey now, come on..."

Mr. Stark still wasn't looking at them, his face fell back into his hand, the fingers of his other hand were clawing at the hood of the car. Peter felt cold panic sweep over him just as he heard Mr. Stark's pulse drumming along and quicken even more. They couldn't wait for Rogers. This was growing out of hand. His eyes shot back to Strange.

The wizard sighed and took a deep breath before announcing: "Tony, we are from the future."

Peter's mouth fell open. That was one way to deliver the news. One blunt way. His nervous panic worked its way out of his body and he actually breathed out a high-pitched laugh. Strange met his eyes and shrugged. "What, we are."

"I... I know. I know..." Peter felt lightheaded. This whole situation was a completely surreal mess.

"Prove it."

Rogers' voice made all four of them turn. He walked past the car, the scepter in hand, and came to a stop right next to Mr. Stark. He stood tall and strong just like his voice had echoed through the ally way. He placed his hand firmly on Mr. Stark's shoulder and gave it a squeeze. Peter's eyes were transfixed by the gesture, stuck on the Captain's hand lying on his mentor's shoulder. What was this? Dominance? Control? Mr. Stark's head was still turned away from Peter, eyes fixed on the ground in front of the car. Roger's kept his hand on him and Mr. Stark gave a couple of small nods in the Captain's direction, both of his hands now flatly pressed against the hood of the car. Did... did he actually trust Rogers? Peter drew a sharp breath. Was he going to trust the Rogers he knew over a random version of Peter Parker from the future? Both Rogers' and Lang's eyes widened and Peter was ripped out of his downwards spiraling thoughts and looked over to the wizard.

Strange had simply lifted his hand, the Time Stone glistening on the back of it.

Rogers thrust the scepter into Lang's hands, stepped between them and planted himself slightly in front of both Lang and Mr. Stark. "How does that prove anything? The Stones were destroyed."

At that even Mr. Stark's head shot up to stare at Strange, eyes on the Stone.

"This is the Stone that Bruce Banner is _borrowing_ a few blocks south from here right now."

Rogers bit his lip. His eyes lingered on the stone before he glanced up into Strange's face again.

"I mean... that could be true." Lang shrugged, hands tapped up and down on the scepter's hilt. He looked over to Mr. Stark. "And they seem to know quite a lot of what we're doing." His eyes widened and he took a step towards Strange. "Are... are you here to return it? Does that mean we won?"

Peter felt his heart clench and his hand shot up and rubbed at his eyes. He couldn't start crying already. He looked back over and found Mr. Stark's eyes back on him.

"There'd be no need to stop and see us. And there's no way in hell I'd let Pete in on this mission." Peter's eyes stung. He had to look away to fight his emotions. "They want to use it, but Strange lost his bling on Titan." He paused, gave his head a little shake as he studied Peter closely. "The bracelets are pretty convincing. Only I never designed them to hold a stone. "

With a quick tab on his forearm, Peter engaged the Iron Spider but left his head uncovered. Lang jumped behind the car and shoved the scepter behind his back. Rogers' hands grabbed the shield from his back, legs slightly bend and ready to jump, every muscle in his body flexed.

"Alright, let's stay calm." The doctor's arms were spread out like he was about to reign in some rouge horses. "Peter?"

Peter gaped at them, eyes wide. "Sorry, I didn't... I just wanted..." His glance found Mr. Stark, who blinked rapidly, hands balled into fists, as his eyes wandered up and down the Iron Spider. Peter slowly turned his palm up and called up the projection of the blueprint for the Quantum bracelets in front of him. A quick swipe brought up his own adapted version where he integrated a mount for the stone. Lang had taken a few steps back towards them and Roger's shield sank down to the floor.

"I... I used your plans for the glove." He swallowed and met Mr. Stark's glance.

The man's mouth twitched. "That's pretty impressive, kid."

Peter only shrugged. His arm fell back down to his side. Mr. Stark's eyes were on his suit, then lingered on the bracelet for a moment. "What... what happened? Did we mess it up?"

"_You_ didn't." Strange let his own arms drop back to his sides as well. "There was a... complication on Rhodes and Nebula's end."

Mr. Stark jumped up from the hood of the car. Rogers stepped closer to him. His hand shot out to grab Mr. Stark's arm and he held him in place. Mr. Stark's eyes were bulging, his voice at a breaking point. "Oh... oh god, Rhodey and-"

"Colonel Rhodes is fine. As is Nebula. She did get captured by a 2014 version of Thanos though. He figured out the plan, accessing her database and let his own 2014 version of Nebula time-jumped to 2023 before he followed himself."

Lang almost dropped the scepter when his hand shot up and covered his mouth. Rogers stared at them, "Oh... oh my god..." His hold on Mr. Stark's arm intensified and the man stumbled forward being drawn closer to the Captain.

"He brought his henchmen, the ship, the whole army."

Strange's voice sent shivers through his body. Peter drew a deep breath. He needed to calm down. The emotions radiating from the three men in front of him were picked up by his senses and wound up his nerves. Roger's dropped Mr. Stark's arm. He turned away from them, walked a few steps back and forth, his hand ran through his hair, again and again, pulling at the strands. Lang just stood there, hand over his mouth, eyes darting over to Mr. Stark. His mentor's eyebrows were knitted together in thought, before he shook his head and his face fell, making him look even more spent. Peter glanced over to Strange. They hadn't even gotten to the worst part yet...

"But that is impossible!" Lang had dropped his hand and firmly held onto the scepter again. "You need Pym Particles. You need a suit. How would they have gotten that many suits?!" He shook his head again waving off the mere idea of Thanos infiltrating their 2023 timeline. "And the platform or at least the bracelets. He wouldn't be able to control anything in the Quantum Realm without it, let alone jump into it in the first place."

Strange shrugged, his poised stance unchanged. "Well, it seems he found a loophole."

Rogers and Mr. Stark turned to look at each other. Then Peter found his mentor's eyes back on himself, glistering with anxiety and pain. Lang was still mumbling to himself how Thanos traveling and bringing an army didn't make any sense while Rogers had turned his back again. He rested his hands on the roof of the car. His arms were visibly shaking. He bent over, head hanging low, and cursed under his breath.

Next to him, Peter caught the doctor moving at last. A quick glance over to him confirmed that he had turned his eyes on Peter. _No..._ He wasn't ready. Letting Strange explain some of this had calmed his pulse, taken some of the pressure off. Now his ears were ringing. He wasn't ready to tell them. His hand shot up to the collar of the suit. Peter worked his fingers between the nanites and his skin. Everything felt too tight on him. He wasn't getting enough air. The fabric of his clothes was agitating his skin. The buzzing in his ears made it hard to focus.

Then the Captain cleared his throat and Peter's focus was back on the three men in front of him. "So, you've... you've come to warn us? Is that why you're here?"

Mr. Stark shook his head, eyes still on Peter. "No, that's not gonna do anything. You can't change how things work out in our future by changing something in the past. You just create an alternate timeline." He was looking right at Peter, meeting his eyes straight on. His face was drawn and there was a resignation in the man's eyes that made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. "Pete... Why are you here?"

Peter's body shock. He clasped his own hands to keep himself somewhat steady. This was the bad part. The really bad part and his composure was dwindling with every moment he got closer to saying the words. What if he couldn't? What if his voice just broke and the words would just choke him?

"It's alright, kid." Peter's eyes shot up as Mr. Stark's voice rang through the alleyway. It was calm and so was the look on his face. None of the fear and anger that radiated from Lang and Rogers. "It's alright. Just... just tell us."

A tingling went up and down Peter's spine as he stood with his head bowed, eyes locked on his hands in front of him. His head gave the tiniest nod and he wiped away the first tear that overspilt and fell on his cheek.

"Thanos did come." He cleared his throat and glanced up at them for a second. All eyes were now on him. His heart beat in his throat. "He and... and his sidekicks and his whole army." His voice was shaking. He tried to blink away the tears in his eyes. He had to look at him now. To make him understand. To make him_ see_. He forced his eyes up at his mentor. "You... you did it. Dr. Banner used your glove. He reversed the snap and brought everyone back. But then... then there was Thanos to defeat. All of us were there... fighting together but... he... he went proper mad... like... more than before... he wanted to use the... the Stones again, wipe out everyone." He swallowed hard, holding Mr. Stark gaze. Another tear ran down his face. "But you took them from him. You... you used the Stones. You used them to... to wiped out Thanos. His army. All of them. And then... and then..." A sob was caught in his throat. He tried to say it. He would need to say it-

"And then I died." Mr. Stark's voice was still calm, the tone final.

Peter's face crumbled. It was too much. The pain of that memory tightened his chest, physically made his heart sting with every agonizing beat. Peter bowed his head, tearing his eyes away from him and wiped a shaky hand over his face. Only a flare of his senses made him look back up in time. Mr. Stark was all of a sudden right in front of him. One strong motion pulled Peter into his arms, holding him tightly pressed against himself. With a deep sob, Peter's own arms shot up and clung onto him, held him close as he cried into his shoulder.

"I'm so sorry, kid," his voice rough and low and still so familiar.

Peter's hands clutched the fabric of the man's jacket, desperately holding him in place. When they had hugged back on that battlefield, when Mr. Stark had held him, Peter had been so clueless. Surprised and happy over the physical affection that Tony Stark usually abstained from. Just happy and relieved and so _clueless_ of what would transpire only moments later. The loss he had felt that day came crashing down on him right there and he pulled the man even closer.

Strange cleared his throat and made Peter flinch. "Peter. Don't break him. We still need him."

He jerked away from the man, mumbling a low "sorry". Quickly he reached for the heart of his suit and disengaged the Iron Spider.

"Don't be silly..." Mr. Stark put his hands on his shoulders, his eyes wandering over Peter's face.

Feet shuffled closer to them. "What do you mean you still need him?" Rogers' voice was dark and low.

"Give us a minute, Cap." Mr. Stark had turned just enough to look over his shoulder and held out a hand to stop him from approaching any further. "Just give us a minute."

His arms tightened around Peter again, pressing him firmly to his chest.

"God, kid."

Peter closed his eyes and leaned into him. His head came to rest on the man's shoulder again. Without the suit, Peter could actually feel his mentor's heartbeat. The body heat radiating from him. The sheer force of life that was rushing through him. He was right there. All the nights he had cried himself to sleep over not being close enough to help him in the end, when he had blamed himself for all the risks Mr. Stark had taken for him, cursed himself for how he let the man into his heart and become a mentor and father to him just for it to be ripped away again. All of it fell off his conscience at once and left his soul open and bare. The only thing holding him together was the tight grip of Mr. Stark's arms. He had found him.

"I'm so sorry, Pete." His voice was quiet and broken. Peter felt the vibration of his voice more than the sound actually registered.

And there was so much he wanted to say. So much that still needed to be explained. Peter focused on his breathing, on his own voice. "I... I got your message," he whispered. Mr. Stark sighed and ran a hand up from his back and squeezed Peter's shoulder.

"It... it sucked, like..." He was shaking with Mr. Stark as the man chuckled and pressed a firm kiss on Peter's temple. His eyes still closed, he tried to find his voice again. "The editing... was really lazy and... I.. I didn't care much... for the gist of the message either."

"You didn't, huh?"

Peter shook his head, his face was buried in the fabric of Mr. Stark's jacket. He tilted his head so Mr. Stark would hear him clearly. "It didn't sound like you were sorry at all."

His mentor's hand was on the back of his head and softly ran through his hair. "Come on... We found a way to bring back half the Universe. Save billions of people. Did you really expect me not to try?"

Peter's hands loosened their grip. Against every instinct in his body he leaned back from Mr. Stark, the motion as rugged as if he had been stuck there with Velcro tape. He stepped back just enough so he could look up into his mentor's face. "Is that why you did this? Why you're here? The people? The Universe?" He wiped the back of his hand across his face only to have a new set of tears roll down his cheeks.

Mr. Stark pursed his lips, his fingers twitched. "You already know the answer to that."

His voice hardly above a whisper, Peter held his gaze. "What if I didn't want you to do that?"

Mr. Stark gave a half shrug and shoved one of his hands in his pocket. He shifted his stance a little but stayed just as close to him, one hand still firmly on Peter's arm, his voice like Peter's low and thick with emotion. "It wasn't your decision, Pete. I saw a chance to get you back and I took it."

Another set of tears ran down his cheeks and Peter roughly wiped them away. It didn't come as a surprise but he really needed to stop it with the crying. Tears wouldn't sway Mr. Stark. He cleared his throat.

"Alright then." _Just say it, Peter._ He wiped his hand across his eyes one more time. "Well, you... you wanted to know why I'm here... I'm here to bring you back."

"Pete..." His mentor's face fell.

"What...?" Peter sniffed and lifted his chin. "I saw a chance and I'm taking it!"


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

It had been 15 minutes. Not that Peter had actually timed it but it certainly felt like it. 15 minutes, at least.

Mr. Stark was ranting and raving, pacing to and fro and stabbing a finger at him or Strange in turn. Not a surprise, of course, if a little excessive even for Mr. Stark. He'd always been a stubborn bastard. Peter couldn't get a single word in edgewise. He would just talk over him, ramble on about responsibilities and accountability and trust and whatnot. He dug up every little thing, even the damn ferry incident, which was not fair at all. As if that had been even remotely the same thing. Neither was the unintended trip to space.

If it hadn't been for Strange's orange dome, Mr. Stark might have just wandered off by now. Maybe Peter shouldn't have used his own words against him. At first, Mr. Stark's mouth had hung open, stunned into silence. Dead silence. And then, Rogers had made a move. Unsuccessfully, though, plus pretty predictable. Granted, Peter's senses would have picked up the fast approaching footsteps from behind even if an armada of Chitauri had suddenly made their way into the ally. At Rogers' approach, the hair on his neck rose and his body was ready, his senses scanning for the threat. He had managed to surprise Rogers even back in Germany. Two years of Spider-man-ing later, the new suit, plus Mr. Stark was right in front of him. If Rogers thought he could get past Peter's reflexes, he had been wrong. Very wrong.

When the Captain had launched for Mr. Stark, Peter had just needed to extend his arms and swiftly whirl his mentor around. One pull, a few quick steps, and Peter's body was between Mr. Stark and Rogers. The Iron Spider reformed around him like a second skin, his web shooters engaged. He had been ready for this, ready to fight for Mr. Stark when he had so miserably failed him in the battle on Earth. And on Titan.

Peter's eyes were fixed on Rogers' shield and when his senses fully kicked in, time seemed to slow. The Captain came at him. Detaching the shield from his back, he firmly clasped it in his hand, building up speed. _Let him come._ He could take Rogers. He wouldn't break as he had in the hospital. He wouldn't give in. Not this time. Behind him, Mr. Stark shouted for them to stop. He ignored him. Eyes on the man. Eyes on the shield. Then, the familiar orange veil rose in front of him, a swirling barrier between them. Rogers, unfamiliar with Strange's particular brand of magic, braced himself behind his shield and ran headfirst into the dome. A clash and, like earlier Bruce Banner, he was catapulted backwards, just about missed Lang and smashed into the front of the car right next to him. Ha. Served him right.

"Peter!" Mr. Stark grabbed him from behind, and with Rogers dazed for the moment, he let himself be pulled back.

But it was Strange's voice that actually startled him out of his fight mode. "Peter... I know we're not on a particularly tight schedule here, but this is really not the time to indulge in your Captain America revenge fantasy. So... can we not?"

"He started it."

"And I am stopping it. I don't care how mad you are at the other Captain Rogers version, this one has not a clue what's going on and there's no need for all the drama."

It took a certain amount of self-control for him to keep his cool, but he let the suit retract back into the housing unit, signaling some sort of cooperation. Even the damn cloak was pointing a fabric finger accusingly at him. He fought the urge to turn away from the wizard, sulky teenager style, and instead, relaxed his arms. The wizard was right. Rogers wasn't important right now. He turned to the man he had come to bring home, the only one who really mattered. Mr. Stark had taken one look at him, and then he had started off his rant.

On the other side of the orange shield, Lang stood with his mouth hanging open. Rogers had extracted himself from the wreckage of the car and paced the perimeter of the dome. Not as frantically as his mentor, up and down, up and down, always at the edge of the dome. If anything he looked like a tiger that circled its prey. Thank god for the Doctor's barrier. Without it, he'd have been absolutely screwed.

Mr. Stark's pacing was less of the threatening sort but more the mad-monologue kind. He kept his distance from Peter and that didn't make it any easier to get the man to listen.

"—not gonna happen. I don't even want to hear it! There is no way in hell I am going to risk Pepper or Morgan or_ you_ and fuck around with the damn timeline! No! No way! We had one shot and botched it already. What if this will make it even worse? Thought of that? Hell, you guys being here... it means... shit, this could already... this could unravel it all. Maybe has already? Thought of that? No?" His hands ran through his hair and pulled at the strands. "And you!" He turned towards Strange, stabbing his finger in his direction. "You should know better. How could you let this happen and—"

"I know what I am—"

Mr. Stark talked right over him as well. "—you know the implications this can have on this timeline! Now that we know... now that we know what will happen it might undo everything! It might not even—"

"It won't, Tony. Not the way we—"

"Now, you are here forcing our hand and who knows what this will—"

Peter had enough. He closed his eyes for a short moment and pictured that little ball of warmth in his gut, all the courage he had brought. This was his shot. He had to take it. A few steps and Mr. Stark was within his reach. In one swift motion, he grasped his mentor's wrists, forced his hands out of his hair and to his sides. Holding him down in a firm grip, Peter faced the man. "We'll turn it all back!"

Manhandling seemed to do the trick. Mr. Stark blinked.

"Mr. Stark, we'll fix it all. We know how. You and I, we will leave and then Doctor Strange will turn everything back. You won't even know that we were here!"

Mr. Stark's mouth fell open and his eyes glazed over as Peter squeezed his arms. This would work. He knew it would work! "It'll be like we were never even here and you'll be safe in 2023 with us. The power of the Stone can't touch another timeline."

"But, turning back time... that would bring you back, too! How... No, I don't even want-"

Peter kept him rooted right in front of him. "Just... can you just listen?! Doctor Strange can do it. He can control it, turn time back just for the three of you. Everything else around you stays the same."

"Peter, no! I don't... that... is that even possible?" He glanced over to the Doctor. "To turn it back like that?"

Strange nodded. "It is!"

But Mr. Stark shook his head and pulled on the hold Peter had on his arms. "You can't know that for sure! There is no way you can. You're just hoping it's that easy and—"

"Ask Rogers then," Peter interrupted before Mr. Stark could go off on another rant. "You won't believe me? Fine! He tell you!"

Mr. Stark followed his outstretched arm, pointing to the Captain, and his face went slack. On the other side of the dome, Rogers stopped dead, an expression of annoyed confusion painted on his face.

"Go on, Captain. Tell him about Vision," Peter said.

Rogers just stood there, eyes wide in silent shock. "I don't think this is—"

"Do it! Tell him what you saw back then in Wakanda. We know you saw it."

Rogers jerked at Peter's shout and went pale. "Peter, it doesn't matter what happened there! Vision was... this has nothing to do with—"

"What the fuck happened in Wakanda, Steve," Mr. Stark said, his voice sharper than before. His stare was fixed on Rogers, calculating and curious at the same time.

"Vision... he..." Rogers cleared his throat, then went on with a somewhat steadier voice. "Vision died. Thanos took the Stone from him and he died. You know that."

Inside the dome, Strange made a small annoyed sound. "If you could elaborate on the minutes before that, Captain?"

Rogers gritted his teeth. His eyes found Peter's and an intangible understanding passed between them. They had him cornered. Rogers might be a pro when it came to omitting certain facts and his version of the truth might not always co-align with what Peter would consider to be fact, but he wouldn't lie to their faces. If it came to his honor, he'd tell the truth if pressed for it, even to his own detriment.

"Wanda... Wanda used her magic on him." Rogers cleared his throat again before his glance moved to Mr. Stark. "She had waited until the last moment even though Vision had begged her to do it sooner—to get it over with. And in the end, she did it. She destroyed the Stone and Vision with it. Only Thanos undid it. He used the gauntlet and turned back time just enough to bring him back. She...we couldn't stop it."

Peter glanced to Mr. Stark. He stood like transfixed, eyes narrowed and an expression of intense concentration on his face. Then he shook his head. "No! That can't be right. You wouldn't... couldn't know then. If he... your memory of it would be gone, too!"

Rogers cleared his throat again. "Well... it wasn't time altogether - just a... slice? Just where Vision was. It didn't affect anyone else.

Below Peter's hand, Mr. Stark's pulse spiked. He looked over but his gaze was still glued to Rogers' face, frozen in his spot.

"You watched him... as he turned back time... and Vision just came back?" Mr. Stark asked, his voice uncharacteristically shaky.

"Yes." The Captain's face was stoic and he shook himself out of his trance. "There was nothing we could do. Wanda or I. We could only stand there and watch. When Vision was back, he strolled over and ripped the Mind Stone from his forehead. It was over in sec—"

"Jeez, Rogers! You never thought to mention that before?"

"I tried! You didn't seem all that interested at the time."

"Excuse me? I was right there. I didn't leave the fucking base for a month! Danvers found me just fine. Rhodey found me just fine! How come you didn't? At the very least, when we went for the time heist, how could you not tell me?"

Rogers took a deep and measured breath. "It was over and done with," he said, "And you barely even tolerated my presence in the room. And no, it didn't seem relevant at the time."

"Oh fuck off, Rogers! What did you expect me to do? The moment I came back to Earth you still held the fucking Accords and Ultron over my head. After everything, we had lost! After we fucking lost _everything_ you still couldn't even face the idea that maybe you'd been wrong! That maybe if you hadn't run from your fucking responsibilities, hadn't gone on a single-minded Bucky-rescue-mission and left the rest of us in the lurch, then maybe none of this shit would have happened!"

Rogers face hardened, but he made a visible effort to calm himself. "It was never just about Bucky."

Mr. Stark shook his head, then made a shooing motion with his free hand. "You keep telling yourself that. I can't keep having the same fight with you! It's been five years and I've lost—" He broke off and glanced back to Peter. Their eyes met and he swallowed the rest of the sentence.

Strange stepped forward. "Gentlemen, neither of you will change that particular part of history. I suggest you defer this discussion to a different time, preferably sometime in 2023. As Captain Rogers just demonstrated it is—"

"Tony, listen to me." True to his righteous self, Rogers completely ignored the wizard's attempt to break up their fight and stepped even closer to the dome. "We need you. The universe needs you. We can't do this without you. If something goes wrong... If he can't bring you back—"

"Captain," Strange's voice took on a sharper edge than Peter had ever heard on him before. It made the tone the wizard had had put on during Mr. Stark's and his discussion on that alien ship sound like a friendly chit-chat. "As far as I remember, we don't trade lives here..."

The Captain jerked back from the magic shield as if a current had arced over and burned him, eyes shifting to the wizard.

"That...this is different! A completely different thing! To change the course of time like that, there are consequences. I don't understand how you can even—"

"I'm sorry, I am confused as to what you're trying to imply here. Are you actually questioning my integrity?"

Rogers' face was set in stubborn defiance. "Nothing comes without consequences."

"Unless you know how to work time." Strange face was dead still, radiating all the authority ingrained in the Sorcerer Supreme. The cloak, however, had its fists clenched and pressed against its waist, clearly offended. "Like I would have even _considered_ helping the boy without ruling out any consequences for the universe as well as the space time continuum. If this path was likely to bring harm to any part of it, I would not be here."

Mr. Stark gave a small twitch under Peter's hand and turned his attention from the quarreling men to him, a gentle expression in his eyes. "Pete..." He stepped closer and his own hand came to rest on Peter's arm. "Buddy, this is nuts. It can't work. Even if Strange reverses time, I'll just end up back here. It's alright, though." His voice was low and urgent, desperate to make him understand. "Here is where I should be. You know that. It's what I've got to do. I can't risk my family and I can't risk you, no matter what dimension you—.

"No, you won't! The Stone's energy can't touch you in a different timeline."

Rogers' voice echoed through the dome once more. "They can't know that, Tony. All of this is just too—"

"But I do. I do _know_ it." Peter's eyes were fixed on his mentor, urging, pleading for his trust. "Thanos' snap only affected our timeline. Only the one. Even with _all_ the Stones, he couldn't change other dimensions." He dug his fingers hard into Mr. Stark's arm, willing him to listen, to believe him. "Pepper knows. What I'm here for. What I'm going to do."

Mr. Stark's head shot up, eyes sharp and focused. "You told her?"

Peter nodded. Pepper's voice came up as present as if he had just talked to her. The way she had pleaded with him, her anguish and worry. "Yes. She...she said to tell you that she loves you and that she needs you." He blinked back the sudden sting in his eyes. "We all do, you know? We all need you to come home."

Mr. Stark's eyes grew wide and he shook his head. "No way. She'd never let you do this. She knows I never would have wanted you to risk yourself like this."

Peter shrugged. "It's not that I actually asked for permission...when she found out, she tried to stop me. At first. She wants to be strong... for Morgan's sake, even for me. She kept saying we'd be fine without you and that you prepared all these... all these things for a reason. That we wouldn't be lost in case you didn't make it back... but it's not enough. I know it. Pepper knows it, too. I told her I was going to get you and she didn't stop me. She even helped. Deep down she knew all along this... it's the right thing to do."

A tremor ran through Mr. Stark's body. His eyes wet, he let go of Peter and looked away, suddenly very interested in some detail on the ground. He couldn't hide his shaking fingers though. Not from Peter. When he took a step away, Peter held on, not willing to let him go—let it go.

"Please... We need you. It won't matter for this timeline. It'll be like we were never here. I promise. I know it seems like an awfully convenient loophole, but it'll work. Please..."

Behind them, Strange and the Captain had stopped their bickering and stood, watching him and Mr. Stark in silence. Mr. Stark's eyes shifted to Strange, then back to Peter. "I—"

"If you won't do it for me, do it for Morgan," Tears stung in his eyes now, too. Why was this so hard for him to agree to? "She needs you. I know you think she'll be okay, but she won't be. Not if she ever finds out that you had a shot at being with her but didn't take it."

"You should do it," Lang said, his tone almost conversational.

Peter whirled around and so did everyone else. Thank god, someone else had taken over talking sense in Mr. Stark. Whatever he had said seemed to be too little, too unconvincing.

Lang had been quiet all this time, had done nothing but stand and watch and listen. Now, he shrugged and cleared his throat. "Seriously, go for it. None of them knows what it's like, but I do." He walked up to the edge of the dome and stood next to Rogers. All eyes followed him. He didn't seem to notice and was fixed on Mr. Stark alone. "Cassie thought me dead for five years," he went on, his voice turned sharp and demanding. "If there was a chance to save her from this pain, from the loss and heartache, I'd do anything. If this can work... and they say it would... I wouldn't think twice about it and you shouldn't either. That's a chance you can't afford to pass on!"

"Scott!" Rogers grabbed Lang's arm. His face was drawn in surprised shock. "What are you doing? How can you... The risk is—"

Lang shook him off. "Cut the crap, Cap... Captain... Steve, I mean... America..." He cringed but continued. "You tell me you wouldn't undo some shit given the chance? No mistakes? No fuck-ups or regrets? What about that dumb fight at that German airport? I sure didn't think that one through properly."

Rogers opened his mouth as if to argue his point again, but thought better of it and pressed his lips into a tight line. Lang only shrugged at him, raising his hands. "I know it's over and done. I've lived and will be living with the consequences of all my fuck-ups... made my peace with what I did. But nothing has been anywhere near as permanent as this. Or as severe."

Yes, yes, yes! Peter's heart leaped in his chest. This past-version of Lang was just as good an ally as the future one. Mr. Stark would see reason now. Peter shot Lang a big smile, but he wasn't done yet. He took one more step towards the swirling yellow-orange barrier.

"This seems way too convenient. I get it," he said, motioning to Mr. Stark. "But leaving my family behind if I could choose otherwise just because it feels like cheating fate? Never in a million years. They shouldn't be the ones to pay. You..." He pointed, his finger all but touching the dome. "You should go with them! For all I know you earned it."

Mr. Stark sighed. He shook his head, balled and un-balled his fist, fighting a silent battle with himself.

"Mr. Stark? Mr. Stark...?" Peter tugged at his arm, but when he looked up, it wasn't in his direction. Peter followed his gaze.

Rogers. He stood, back straight and jaw working, staring back. What was it with them? Why was the Captain's opinion so much more important than everyone else's? This was a freaking nightmare!

Mr. Stark swallowed. "I don't know what to do. I dropped the ball. We blew our chance with the Tesseract but..." he waved at Strange and Peter, "but they are here and so I guess we fixed it. Somehow. Like—I don't even know."

That startled Rogers. He blinked, clearly confused. "What's with the Tesseract? What happened?"

Lang shrunk back, leaving Mr. Stark to explain. Peter still held onto Mr. Stark's arm, pulling harder to get his attention back, but he wasn't reacting, gaze still fixed on Rogers.

"We dropped the ball, Steve. Well, the damn case. Hulk jumped out of the staircase and the case went flying. Loki took it. I... I'm sorry. I couldn't—"

"But you'll fix it!"

That got their attention. All eyes snapped to Peter.

"But we only had one shot," Lang said.

Mr. Stark cocked his head and held Peter's gaze. "What was that?"

"You'll go back to 1970, New Jersey, and get more particles, grab the Tesseract from storage and come back okay."

"You will still do that, as a matter of fact," Strange added. "We are not... cannot change anything about that."

"1970—?"

"Jersey—?"

Rogers and Mr. Stark both spoke out at the same time, then stopped just one word into their questions. Both men's foreheads creased with puzzlement but Mr. Stark recovered faster.

"What's in the Garden State in 1970—oh!" Comprehension bloomed on his face. "The military installation in—" He broke off mid-sentence, nodding to himself. "That quite the trip down memory lane, but yes... yes that could work. The Tesseract is there and more Pym Particles and—"

"Are you sure?" Rogers asked.

"Yeah. I have a vaguely exact idea..."

"And it will work. It already did," Peter said, pointing meaningfully at himself. "You'll be fine. You already know what to do."

"We'll fix it? We didn't ruin the time heist after all?" Lang asked from the sidelines.

Peter had his eyes still on his mentor. "_You_ will fix it. After we've left... after Strange has put everything back the way it was."

Strange cleared his throat. The dome flickered and died. "Tony, Peter has the coordinates for you. The two of you will jump ahead and I'll follow as soon as I turned things here back to the way they are supposed to be."

Peter's eyes flickered over to Rogers and Lang, but neither seemed to make a move now that the dome of protection was gone. That was probably a good sign.

"Hang on, I didn't agree to any of this yet. Tell me... Tell me again."

Peter looked at Strange and the wizard nodded encouragingly. Even the cloak's collar was nodding along. He took a deep breath and collected his thoughts. This was it, this was his chance to finally make him see reason. "It's easy enough. You and I will jump ahead into the Quantum Realm. As soon as we're gone, Doctor Strange will use the Time Stone and reverse all the interactions we had with the three of you. You'll pop up again in this timeline because time gets turned back but then you'll also be safe in the Quantum Realm since the Stone only affects the one timeline it's wielded in. Strange will stay out of sight so you won't know he's here and when things are back to the way they were, he'll time jump, too. We'll all arrive on the platform in 2023 together."

"Easy enough, huh?" He turned to Rogers. Again. The Captain's glance wandered over to Strange then back to Mr. Stark. He shrugged. "Your call."

Peter's heart was in his throat. They were so close. What was there still left to ponder? He felt his emotions bubble up again. "Mr. Stark... please..."

His mentor's pulse under his hand was racing. He could feel the nervous energy, uncertainty rushing through the man in front of him. Peter's breath hitched. What else... what else did he need to say?

"Please... you just need to trust me. You did, with Friday... I wouldn't even be here if you hadn't trusted me with Friday and..." He wasn't even looking at Peter. His head hung low, his shoulders slumping. A cold shiver went down Peter's spine. Fear? No. He'd seen fear on Mr. Stark. This was not that. It was something else. It was... Oh.

Peter's hand tightened around his arm. "Mr. Stark... Titan... Titan wasn't your fault." His mentor jerked back, but Peter had a firm hold on his arm. "What Thanos did was not your _fault_. You did everything you could to protect—"

"Did I?" His head shot up and the look on his face made the words jam in Peter's throat. Mr. Stark tried to yank his arm out of his grasp again, but shock had his whole body frozen and his grip wouldn't falter. The man's eyes were glistening with tears, a deep red mark on his lip where his teeth had bitten down hard. "Did I do everything I could? We've had years to figure out our bullshit and all I did... all I _did_ was—"

"You did what you thought was right! Mr. Stark, I was there! I know how hard you tried to make them listen, to understand what was at—"

"You died, Pete. There was nothing I could do. You fucking disintegrated in my arms because we failed. I _failed_. That was on me! I should have figured out how to turn the damn ship around, fly us home. Keep you—"

"We don't even know if that would have changed anything, Tony." Strange's voice was still so calm when Peter's heart was about to burst out of his chest. "Flying back to Earth might have just turned into more casualties. You knew that and you were right. That is if we had even been able to figure out how to do that. Might I remind you we couldn't even land that thing on Titan without crashing? Earth's atmosphere would have made us crash even harder without any guarantee of defeating Thanos."

Mr. Stark's eyes burned into Strange. "We managed in 2023. Or so you say."

Strange stood completely still but the cloak threw its own fabric up like hands in frustration. "That's was not the same. He didn't have the Stones. We didn't have Captain Marvel in 2018. It was a very different fight. You know that."

Mr. Stark just waved him off and as Peter blinked away his tears he suddenly realized what this was really about. Redemption. A dept, Mr. Stark felt like he had to pay.

He took a deep breath, trying to still the rush of emotions that would make his voice all weak and shaky. "You think laying down your life will make up for not defeating him in the first place, don't you? That it will somehow get rid off all the guilt you carry around?" Mr. Stark bit down on his lip again and Peter could feel the jolt of pain that went through him. "You'll still do that, Mr. Stark. You'll die and—" Peter's voice broke and he took a strained breath to continue. "And it looked painful enough. But if you don't come with us now, all you do is just leave behind the people who love you to suffer on their own. Please... The world still needs you. Pepper and Morgen... and I... we all still need you."

Slow, strong footsteps came up behind him. It didn't make his senses flare, but he flinched all the same as Rogers got closer. "Tony, Earth can't afford to lose her best defender." Tears spilled over at last as Peter turned to look back over to Rogers. "They say there are no consequences to this and Peter might lie to your face to convince you, but Strange wouldn't."

Peter found Mr. Stark's eyes again. "But you'd know if I was lying. And you know Strange would not hesitate to let you die if the universe depended on it. He already has." His hand shot up and wiped the tears off his face.

"He would, wouldn't he?" Mr. Stark cleared his throat and nodded. "Not really aligned with his moral compass."

"The kid is right. If this is about punishing yourself for Thanos. Don't." Rogers' hand clasped Mr. Stark's shoulder for a moment. He gave a curt nod in Peter's direction and stalked back to stand next to Lang.

Mr. Stark's eyes found Peter's. "You sure about this?"

Peter's heart fluttered with hope. "Yes."

Mr. Stark's throat worked. He sent another glance over to Cap and Lang, then to Strange, before he gave a few short nods.

"Alright."

Peter nodded along. "Alright." The throbbing of his pulse made his ears ring. Did... did they just do it? Was this it? Still nodding he shot a quick look at Strange. The wizard was stoic as ever.

"Hey, kid..." Peter's eyes met Mr. Stark's again. "You'll have to give me back my arm if you want me to punch in those coordinates."

Peter blinked up at him. "You... you're coming with us?"

At that Mr. Stark's face pulled into a tentative smirk. "I... yeah. I trust you, Pete."

It felt like another minute passed before the words really registered with Peter and as they did all the fear and doubt, all the pain and grief fell off him all at once. He let go of Mr. Stark's wrist and in the same motion lunged forward and flung his arms around his mentor. That little warm ball of courage in his gut spread into his every cell. Hope. He would really bring him back. He really did it. He wouldn't lose him after all. His face was buried in Mr. Stark's jacket and he muttered a thousand teary "thank you"s into the fabric. Mr. Stark's hands rubbed soothing circles across his back.

"I... " Peter gulped down his emotions to steady his voice. "I love you, too, Mr. Stark."

He tightened his grip on Peter and let his head drop down to his. His lips came to rest against Peter's temple as he whispered back. "I know, buddy."

Peter leaned into the touch for another moment, then let go. He used his sleeve to dry his face before he pulled it back and held his hand out to Mr. Stark. The coordinates for the platform shone brightly on the bracelet's display. The emotion running through him was still too much and he cringed when he just couldn't stop his hand from shaking. He stole a glance at Mr. Stark because of course, he would notice, but his mentor just grasped his hand and gave it a firm squeeze before he typed the digits into his own bracelet.

He cleared his throat. "So... I just time jump and... hope this works, I guess. right?"

"Right," Peter whispered back.

"Nothing else I gotta do. Just jump." He exhaled deeply, eyes now on Strange.

"Just jump. I'll do the rest," Strange confirmed.

"Alright... I guess I'll see you guys in a minute." He nodded at Rogers and Lang before his attention was back on Peter. "Ready, kid?"

Peter couldn't help but snort with a low laugh. Of course, Mr. Stark would jump right back to being in charge, calling the shots. Excitement prickled in his fingers and a wave of happy familiarity rolled over him. "Yup. Ready, when you are."

He mimicked Mr. Stark and had his hand hover over the bracelet as he met the man's eyes full on. His mentor bit his lip once more, then nodded.

"Here we go."

In unison, both tapped the bracelet twice. Nanites swarmed out of the bracelet's holding unit and formed the Quantum Realm suit around them. It took only seconds for the mechanism to roll into gear and catapult them across time and space. Only seconds, but long enough for Peter to ponder the fact that he might have failed to mention to Mr. Stark what exactly was waiting for them on the other side of the time jump.


	8. Chapter 8

The trip wasn't what one would necessarily describe as comfortable. It was nothing like the exhilaration that swinging through New York's street canyons brought him. Currents of time and space were roughly tugging on the suit, but there was no rush of wind in his ears. Instead, there was absolute, eerie silence around him, only broken by his own shallow breaths. With nothing for his senses to pick up, it was as if someone had hit pause on his abilities. Thankfully, the trip only lasted seconds. Short enough, he could have held his breath for it. Solid surface back under his feet, he exhaled with relief as his senses started to pick up earthly stimuli. His relief was short-lived though and evaporated completely when the sounds that reached his ears registered not just as the rustling leaves of the forest around them. Curses and harsh voices. Deep sobs. Right... The Avengers. And May. This wasn't over yet. Well... Peter's heart gave a painful squeeze and he whipped his head to his left.

He was there. _Thank you, Universe. Thank you, thank you, thank you!_ Mr. Stark stood right next to him. And Strange was just behind him. Peter's heart contracted in an almost painful flutter in his chest. They'd done it. Mr. Stark had made it to 2023. He was safe. No matter how pissed off the Avengers would be. No matter how long May would ground his ass for. He'd done it. What were they gonna do about it? They couldn't very well send him back... right?

He wasn't the only one who remembered that their mission wasn't quite over yet. Peter hadn't seen the orange shield go up. Maybe it had been there the whole time they had been gone from their own timeline? No. It came down right in front of them now, at the very edge of the platform. Rogers and Banner stood by a lot closer than they did before.

Mr. Stark didn't seem to notice any of that. His eyes were squarely on Strange. "Did... did you do it? Did it work?"

Strange gave a small nod. "I turned everything back to how it was before."

"So... it'll be okay? Everything will happen as it... as it should? We'll... we'll figure things out?"

"We have no reason to think otherwise," Strange confirmed.

Mr. Stark exhaled deeply and nodded to himself. His shoulders sank a little and a good amount of tension seemed to fall off of him. He reached out for Peter. As his mentor's hand came down on his shoulder, Peter leaned into the tight squeeze. He couldn't help but smile at the relief that was painted across Mr. Stark's face. Then the voices around them broke through their little bubble, loud and clear.

"What... what did you do? How... how could you?!" Banner's eyes were wide, shifting between Strange and Peter.

"Strange! What the hell!" Rogers stood right at the edge of the dome once again. "What..." Hands tangled in his hair, he exhaled deeply.

Mr. Stark gaze went over to them, first Banner then Rogers, before he turned to Peter. "Pete... Care to explain?"

Peter's hand shot up and scratched his head. "Yeah, about that..." His nose wrinkled at the memory of their departure from 2023 about an hour ago or 10 seconds... depending on who you were to ask. "They... they weren't all that into the plan. We needed the Stone and there wasn't all that much time to explain, so... you know... we decided to just explain after. Not sure how they found out we were here though."

Strange cleared his throat. "Your aunt told them you were missing. They made an educated guess."

Peter cast down his eyes. Of course, that's why May was with them. He hadn't been home all night. She must have freaked. In fact, he knew she had. She'd called Pepper to contact him through FRIDAY after all. This... he should have probably have thought of this.

"Right." Mr. Stark's attention shifted back to the Avengers.

"Tony... I don't know what they told you. But you must realize how wrong this is. How..." Rogers groaned and rubbed a hand over his face. "I can't believe you did this. I know you've always been reckless and taking selfish risks that—"

"Excuse me, _selfish_ risks?" Mr. Stark's eyes narrowed on Rogers.

Peter felt the disapproval from the Captain rush over himself even though the man's gaze was firmly fixed on Mr. Stark. "You're messing with things that we don't know enough about to understand, again!"

Banner stepped up right next to Rogers. "Tony, there is no... _no_ way for us to even... even begin to understand what the consequences of this—"

Mr. Stark thew his hands up in the air with a groan and rolled his eyes to the sky. "Urgh... I feel like I _just_ had that exact same conversation like 10 minutes ago."

"We know enough to understand this." Peter stared at Banner, careful to avoid looking anywhere near where May was probably still huddled on the grass. "You just didn't want to hear it!"

"Dr. Banner. Captain Rogers." Strange's voice echoed in the dome. "We all understand and appreciate your concerns. I can assure you that I personally took every precaution with this mission and—"

Rogers shook his head vehemently. "To change the course of time like that, there are consequences!"

"Not in this case. And I will be happy to explain the details to you if you would let—"

"This is the fate of the universe we're talking about, Strange!" Rogers' face was as close to the orange veil as physically possible. "You of all people! How can you—"

Strange's voice turned sharper than before. "Captain, I will ask you once more not to question my integrity or my commitment to the Universe."

Peter couldn't help but snort. "Hypocrite."

"Excuse me?" Strange snapped in his direction.

He bit the inside of his cheeks, eyebrows raised. He couldn't help but feel a little smug in the face of the Doctor's irritation with the Avengers. "It's not _this_ Captain Rogers that insulted your integrity before, is it?"

Strange just narrowed his eyes when the green Doctor interrupted their squabble.

"Your integrity?" Anger flashed over Banner's features. "You betrayed us! You stole the Stone from us!"

"I am Sorcerer Supreme. Master of the Mystic Arts. Protector of this reality. I am sworn to guard the Time Stone as well as this reality and I will. The Stone is for me to reclaim and use to the benefit of the Universe before it is returned to its rightful place in space and time to another Sorcerer Supreme."

"For the benefit of the Universe?" Rogers shook his head, hands balled into fists. "That's what you're going with here? Are you for real?"

"This Universe owes Tony Stark. And the Universe needs Tony Stark." Strange voice ran strong.

"You... you don't get to make that decision," Banner said. "Listen, Tony, it's not that we wouldn't want to change—"

"We have to return these Stones, Dr. Banner." The sheer authority in the Doctor's voice made Peter physically cringe. "Without them, our world is left defenseless. We need Tony Stark. So yes, being Sorcerer Supreme means I did get to make this decision."

Maybe his words were laced with magic. Surely, no mere mortal could make words ring so powerful, yield them like Doctor Strange did. Or maybe it was just the truth that they implied that rang so powerful. The reality, their world, was still under threat. There were still villains out there who wanted them all dead or enslaved. A cold shiver went down Peter's spine. The Universe's predicament had turned out to be his blessing in the end. How would he have ever pulled this off without Strange? The Doctor might not have even considered helping him if there hadn't been something in for himself. For the Universe. It might not have even mattered how much the Universe owed its fate to Mr. Stark. Tony Stark, a mentor to him. Earth's greatest defender to everyone else. Almost everyone.

"T—Tony... Oh my... Oh my god..."

Peter's eyes shot up. Happy's voice was low, almost inaudible as he stepped up next to Dr. Banner.

"Hi, Hap." The corners of Mr. Stark's mouth twitched. "Good to see you, buddy."

"You... But you—you... We saw you and you were... you—" Happy turned and took a step closer to Rogers, fists clenched at his side. "What the fuck is going on?!"

Rogers took a step back, eyes wide. "That... It's not _him_. Well, I mean... it is. In a way, but not really. He... He's dead."

"He's standing right there!" Happy's voice was high pitched, an outstretched finger now pointed right at Mr. Stark. "You said—" Happy turned sharply and faced the Banner. "And you! You said it wasn't possible. You said it—" Peter's heart leaped at the display just as Mr. Stark physically leaped forward himself.

"Hey, Hap. Listen. We can explain."

Happy was frozen to his spot next to Banner, eyes still on Mr. Stark. Of course, they had had no warning. Peter had only told Pepper and really only because he had to. Not just to keep her from ratting him out to the Avengers, but also because he had owed her, had found strength in her blessing of the quest. Everyone else though. They would never have listened then, but they would now.

"Strange, can you... just kill the veil-y thing!" Mr. Stark was gesturing at the orange mist that still formed a dome around them and the platform, his eyes locked on Happy.

"Not yet. We're not done here."

Mr. Stark's head whipped around and he stared at the wizard with confusion, then at Peter, who just gave his head a little shake, his shoulders pulled up. Like he knew what the hell Strange was going on about. Half the time Peter didn't know if he was talking to the Sorcerer Supreme or a videogame wizard guarding a bridge, speaking in riddles on purpose. His nerves spiked and he took a deep breath. He held his hands low, snaking towards each other and the nano housing units attached to his arms. But then Mr. Stark's glance wandered away from him and his features turned into the unreadable Stark mask.

There was movement behind them. His nerves still on edge, Peter was quick to turn and look. The dome actually reached back a lot further behind them than he had realized and enclosed the part of the forest where Nebula and Lang had waited for their return. Both of them stepped up to the platform now.

"Stark."

"Smurfette." Mr. Stark flashed a cautious smile. Cautious for Mr. Stark's standards.

"You did come through for your family then. For your son." She turned her black eyes on Peter. "Good job, Parker."

Heat rose up from Peter's neck and spread into his face. "I'm not..." He scratched his neck and avoided Mr. Stark's glance. What was the alien thinking, calling him his son right in front of Mr. Stark? He'd already cried on and clung to the man multiple times over the last hour. He didn't need her to make this even more awkward. "I—I told you, I'm not— I mean... we're not like... related." His face was hot. Urgh, the agony.

A warm hand clapped him on the shoulder and he looked up into Mr. Stark's face. His arm reached around Peter's back and pulled him close, not for a hug, but just held him there, right by his side.

"Tony. Peter." Strange rushed past them off the platform. "If you could come down from there. Lang, like we discussed."

Lang stepped up to the platform's control unit, his stare squarely fixed on Mr. Stark though, mouth open in awe.

"Hi there, Stark—Iron Tony I mean..." Lang grimaced. "Welcome back! I mean, I guess. Back from the past, not from the dead. Though, I guess—"

"Lang, the coordinates!" Strange's voice rang through the dome, his tone urging him along.

He tore his eyes off Peter and Mr. Stark and quietly cleared his throat. "Right..." Lang shook his head back and forth and blinked a couple of times before his fingers wandered over the keyboard in front of him. Peter narrowed his eyes as Lang changed the variables on the scanner they both had built. His senses flared up, but no, not because of Lang. He scanned the edge of the dome and sure enough, Barnes and Wilson. They were slowly circling the area.

"Pete, what's going on?" Mr. Stark's voice was low. Both of them were still up on the platform.

Yeah, what on earth _was_ going on? Mr. Stark shot a glance over his shoulder to where Happy, Rogers and Banner still stood side by side. Strange exchanged a few hasty words about "plans" and if everything was "prepared" with Nebula before his arm whirled in wide circles in front of him, orange sparks flying in different directions. The dome flickered for a moment. The orange light turned a darker shade, almost red-ish. Peter's hand instinctively came up to hold onto Mr. Stark's shoulder. He held him close and only loosened his grip when his mentor softly winced next to him.

"Pete..."

"Sorry." Peter kept his position though and his mentor's arm had not loosened the grip on him at all. With a quick glance to his side, he confirmed the red energy came from the Scarlet Witch, who had circled the dome and tried to mess with Strange's magic. Peter swallowed deeply, dread creeping back into his every cell. "I... I don't know what's happening."

"Tony. Peter. We do need you to come off the platform now."

"What the hell are you doing, Strange?" Rogers' voice was cold as ice and Peter couldn't resist. He was halfway down the steps already, when he froze and slowly turned, eyes on the Captain.

"Come on, kid." Mr. Stark's hand was back on his shoulder, urging him to step down all the way.

When Peter turned back around, Strange's portal had fully opened, but the wizard didn't step through it. He just stared in the direction of the large house that sat on the other side, not too far in the distance. Rolling green hills, a few trees around it, but no other sign of civilization close by.

"Strange, answer me!" Rogers paced up and down along the edge of the dome, not unlike he had done in that timeline in New York in 2012. Well, exactly as he had done there actually.

"I'm creating a bit of an incentive for you, Captain. An incentive that might make it a bit easier to accept all this." Strange's eyes were focused on the other side of his portal while Peter's nerves only increased. Strange's dome that kept them separated from the Avengers and at a distance from Mr. Stark continuously flickered red. And right now, Peter wasn't all that sure anymore if this was a bad thing or if his allies were about to backstab him. Again.

Mr. Stark was right next to him. Peter bit his lip. He had to look out for Mr. Stark. The Avengers still weren't listening and the dome was all that kept them from getting their hands on— He swallowed. Keeping his mentor safe right now, was the only thing that really counted.

"Doctor Strange, there's..." Peter's voice was low, his eyes fixed on the red energy streaming out of Wanda Maximoff's hands. "They are trying to bring down—"

"I know, Peter." Strange didn't even glance in her direction. "It's fine. My magic is strong enough to hold her off. You don't have to worry about that."

"Does she know that, too?" Peter's pulse was racing. "What... What are you—"

Peter froze as someone stepped through Strange's portal at last. Hawkeye. What..? His features were drawn and he looked like he was ready for the kill. Instinctively Peter's hands went to the housing units and the Iron Spider had enclosed him in seconds. Just as fast had he grabbed Mr. Stark's arm and pulled him behind his back.

"Someone is being a bit dramatic." Hawkeye's eyebrows shot up. "Why so jumpy, little Spider?"

Peter's pulse drummed loudly in his ears. He risked his eyes to stray from Barton for just a moment and took in the frown on Strange's face as well as Lang's jaw, that had fallen open.

"The kid's seen some things." Peter flinched when Mr. Stark pulled his arms down. He hadn't even realized that he had assumed his attack-pose. "It's alright, Pete. Legolas just can't really control that resting bitch face of his."

Peter only blinked as Barton stepped closer, caught between wanting to defend his mentor and wanting to listen to him. But Hawkeye's gaze was not on him at all, it rested squarely on Mr. Stark.

"You're really back then." The corner of his mouth twitched. "No keeping you down, is there, Stark."

"From what I hear, quite the opposite was the case actually."

Hawkeye sniffed and only nodded. "Yeah, well, you were never one to shy away from a fight."

"What the hell is going on?" Peter had the nanites that covered his head retreat into the housing units and he turned to look at Strange, then Mr. Stark.

"Peter, we need your bracelet." Strange stepped closer to them.

"What? No... No fucking way. I—"

"Strange, use your fucking words. What's happening?" Mr. Stark's arms were crossed, face now drawn in clear annoyance.

"There is another trip, we must take," Strange explained.

_Oh_. Peter shot a tentative glance over at Hawkeye.

"What other trip?" Mr. Stark shifted behind him from one foot to the other.

"You're not the only one who paid the ultimite prize for the Universe, Tony." Hawkeye stare was still fixed on Mr. Stark, who's mouth fell open.

"Wha—Who... who—"

"Mr. Stark, it's... Natasha Romanoff never made it back from the time jump." Peter swallowed his guilt. It hadn't even occurred to him that they could use the Time Stone to bring her back as well.

"What, but... but you never even mentioned—"

"This is really not the time, Tony." Strange stepped closer to them, his hand streched out. "We really just need one of the bracelets right now."

Before Peter could even think, Mr. Stark had let go of him, quickly unbuckled the bracelet on his wrist and handed it over to Hawkeye. His mind still blank, Mr. Stark clutched his arm again and steered him further away from the platform and closer to Nebula.

"Anyone else?" His arm still held Peter close to his side. "Anything else you left out in your summary?"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Stark. I... I just..." It wasn't like Peter had kept this from him on purpose. He just—

"Give the boy a break, Stark." Nebula's arms were crossed, eyes firmly fixed on Maximoff. "Your death was plenty to keep the boy's mind fixed on a one-issue quest."

Peter kept his head down. She wasn't wrong. There hadn't been much else he had thought about since that battle than what he had lost that day.

"He did good, Stark."

"Yes, of course, he—" Mr. Stark's hand squeezed Peter's arm tightly. "Yes, he did."

The lump in Peter's throat refused to go away, no matter how many times he tried to swallow his feelings. He tried to focus on the scene developing in front of him instead. Strange had been planning a second jump. This... this hadn't been part of their plan. Of his plan. Nobody had even mentioned this.

"The energy shield gonna go down when Strange jumps into the Quantum Realm?" Mr. Stark leaned closer to the alien, voice low.

"Yes." She confirmed.

"Alright then." Mr. Stark turned, eyes on Hawkeye who took a tube of Pym Particles from Lang and then climbed up onto the platform.

"Clint?" Banner shot a confused look from his teammate over to Strange.

The Captain stopped his pacing and had his eyes fixed on the archer as well.

"Evening, guys."

"Clint, what are you... what... you..." Dr. Banner's hand shot up to cover his face. The Captain stood silent though, eyes firmly set on his fellow Avenger.

"I'll talk to you in a minute. Just a little thing I have to quickly head out for." He fastened the bracelet on his wrist.

Peter watched the exchanged. His eyes flickered over to Strange who had his arms crossed standing next to Lang. Peter's mind had gone into overdrive. A quick shake of his head and he pulled himself together and out of Mr. Stark's grasp. It was only a few quick paces and he stood next to Strange. He ignored Mr. Stark's objections but could feel his mentor following close behind him.

"Why didn't you tell me about this?" Peter's hands had balled up into fists as he tried to get Strange's attention.

"A little bit of insurance, Peter. Nothing you needed to worry about." Strange didn't grant him the dignity of actually looking at him as he was talking.

"Been planning to get her this whole time?" Mr. Stark stood right behind him.

"We have," Strange confirmed.

Mr. Stark let out a grunt. "That's... clever. You really think they hate me so much we actually need a gift to keep them happy?"

Strange now did turn and faced Mr. Stark, his eyebrows raised. "Afraid she'll take away your spotlight in the glorious return, Stark?"

"That's not—" Mr. Stark shook his head at the suggestion. "Of course I would want Nat to come back. You know I didn't mean it like that."

The wizard sighed. "They don't hate you, Tony. But yes, this will help them accept that we overruled their uninformed decision making."

Peter looked up at his mentor, who just shook his head in resignation.

"Mostly though, I meant what I said. This timeline has lost its stones. The Black Widow is an Avenger and we need all the help we can get. Come with me." Strange stepped away from them and with a wave of his hand, the portal leading to Barton's farm disappeared. Behind them, the argument continued.

"Clint... come on... this is—"

"This is happening, Cap."

Peter had his eyes on Barton and his two teammates.

"You think I don't want her back, huh? I love her! But this... this is just... no!" Banner turned his back to them, let out a frustrated roar before facing the dome again. "The consequences this can have for the Universe, for all of us are—"

"Oh, fuck the consequences! We already fucked with the timelines, what does it matter now?" Clint shot back.

Peter tore his mind away from them and pulled his focus back on Strange. The wizard once again had his arm outstretched, his other hand drawing circular motions in the air in front of him and orange sparks appeared where the other portal had just closed. Again, they looked at a house that seemingly stood alone. This one was not set on rolling green hills though. It was enclosed by high trees sheltering it from the strong winds that rippled waves on the lake next to it.

But it wasn't the house that pulled their focus. It was the two figures on its porch. Next to him, Mr. Stark had frozen as both of them watched Morgan Stark who pulled herself out of her mother's grasp and ran towards her father. She stepped through the portal without a second thought and slammed into Mr. Stark at full speed. He was quick to pull her up into his arms and hold her closely pressed to his chest. Pepper wasn't far behind her daughter. She stepped up to the portal but stopped, her gaze fixed on Mr. Stark.

Silence had fallen in and around the dome. Morgan's sobs though muffled by her father's shirt echoed all around them. Pepper's hand was tightly clasped over her mouth but the trembling of her body and the tears on her face spoke volumes. It took only a few steps and Mr. Stark was at her side. One arm held the girl in place, who's own arms were tightly wrapped around his neck, legs clinging to his torso. The other pulled Pepper close. She stepped up and tightly hugged both of them, her face buried in Mr. Stark's neck, fists clenching the fabric of his jacket.

Peter didn't know when he had started to cry again. Probably when he had seen the look on Morgan's face. He quickly disengaged the suit and rubbed his sleeve across his eyes.

"It's alright, darling. I'm so sorry. It'll be alright. We'll be alright."

Mr. Stark whispered the same words to them over and over again, pressing soft kisses in Morgan's hair, then Pepper's. Neither of them moved until Strange cleared his throat.

"Tony, we'll leave you to it for tonight. There are still some things that need to be discussed in the morning."

Slowly, Pepper disentangled herself from the embrace. Mr. Stark ran his hand over his face, wiped away the moisture, Morgan still balanced on his hip, a strong arm holding her in place. Like second nature his hand found Pepper's, who tightly held into his arm now.

"Things to discuss, huh?" Mr. Stark's eyebrows rose in expectation.

Strange shrugged. "Things like the public. The fight. The team. Where we go from—"

"The Stones," Mr. Stark interrupted.

"Well, we'll talk tomorrow. Peter." Strange nodded in the direction of the portal.

"I..." Peter took a step back. Mr. Stark was with his family now. His quest was done. But still, the thought of that portal closing with him on the other side, his mentor disappearing right in front of him, actually gave Peter anxiety. Like this might not have been real. Like he was still lost to them. But leaving with him now... Stepping through that portal would mean that Peter would be running from the consequences of what he had done. The betrayal not just of the Avengers, but mostly— "I need to... May, I need to see her. She—"

He looked up at Mr. Stark, his head resting on his daughter's hair, then at Pepper. She gave Mr. Stark's shoulder a quick squeeze before she stepped through the portal and pulled Peter in for a hug. His hands came up automatically and he hugged her back, eyes closed, making a point not to look at any of them while Pepper muttered teary "thank you"s over and over again. All he could do was nod. There were no words that would measure up to what they had actually pulled off. What this would mean for Pepper and Morgen. And for him.

He opened his eyes again and shot a quick glance in the direction of the platform. Barton had his head bowed, eyes on the floor of the platform. Banner, too, had averted his eyes and was staring at the grass while Rogers gaze was fixed on Mr. Stark and his daughter on the other side of the portal. Barnes and Wilson had slowly walked back towards Rogers and even Maximoff had stood down, arms crossed in front of her. And then there was Happy. He had fallen back from the dome and stood silently, one arm firmly wrapped around May. Peter quickly looked away. Deep breaths. His arms tightened around Pepper. There had been no other way. He hadn't wanted to hurt May, but she would have never allowed— He only had this one shot, he couldn't have jeopardized it by—

"You'll be alright, Peter. She'll understand."

He swallowed deeply and nodded into Pepper's words.

"Have Happy drive you by the house tonight. Bring May. Tell him to call Rhodey."

He nodded again, but his thoughts were still on May and he blinked rapidly when Pepper took him by the shoulders and pulled them apart.

"We need you there tonight. No delays this time, okay?" Her eyes were red, tears still clinging to her lashes.

"Yeah..." Peter cleared his throat. "Yeah, okay." He tried to pull his lips into a smile that wouldn't really come.

"You'll be alright. We all will be now." She planted a quick kiss on his temple. "Thank you, honey."

Peter watched as she stepped back through the portal. Mr. Stark gave a small wave and a low "We'll see you tonight, kid!" before his hand found his wife's again and with a snap, Strange's portal closed in front of them.

All that was left was a moment of silence before the Doctor's swift steps ruffled through the grass and then drummed on the steps up to the platform.

"Lang?"

"Yeah. I got it just... just a sec, I just have to sync the coordinates and— Here we go."

The bracelet still fastened around Peter's wrist vibrated and displayed a new set of coordinates. A chill went through him and he quickly loosed and pocketed it the thing.

"Strange, it... come on, you can't..." Rogers rubbed a hand across his face. "There are consequences to this... We can't... we shouldn't..." There was little fight left in the Captains voice, no real will to argue any more.

"You're not listening, Captain. I'm a guardian of this Universe and I'm telling you: It's not at risk. Not from this. Lang?" At Strange's word the Quantum tunnel energized. "We'll talk about this at length in another minute." He looked over at Barton. "Now."

Both men tapped their bracelets. Within moments nanites streamed out of the bracelets and the suits formed around them. With a quiet plop, both of them were sucked into the Quantum Realm. Just as the tunnel closed, the orange dome flickered out. Peter's reaction time was marginal. Without another glance in the direction of the Avengers, he headed for May and Happy. May too started towards him as soon as he moved, but she had only taken a couple of steps when Peter had already managed to cross the distance between them. He tried not to look at her puffy eyes but let her pull him into her arms right away.

"What the hell were you thinking? I just got you back! You can't do that! You can't!"

"I'm sorry, May. I—"

She jerked in his arms and he tightened his hold on her, then looked back over his shoulder. The platform had reengaged. The sound of it had startled her. Peter's eyes lingered on it for a few deep breaths. There were three figures on top of the platform now. Strange and Barton and... yes. They had her with them. And this time, Strange's orange dome didn't light up. This time, they just stood up there, facing the rest of the team with confidence. Peter pulled his focus back to May, who still had her arms wrapped around him.

"May, I—"

She pushed him off and glared through her tears. "You're grounded so hard Peter Parker, I will not let you leave the damn apartment until you're 35! At least! Peter—" She stifled another sob. "Peter, I just got you back!"

He wrung his hands. He really didn't want to cry again, but he knew how much this had scared her and he had readily accepted those consequences and headed out for his quest anyway. Quickly, he rubbed the back of his hand across his face and then forced himself to meet her eyes. "I know, I... I'm so—" He just had time to open his arms before she pulled him close again. "I'm so sorry, May."

One of her hands ruffled his hair softly, the other arm still had him in a tight embrace. "Are you?"

"I'm sorry, I hurt you. I didn't want to scare you. But I had... I had to get him. Nobody was going to and I... I had to."

May slowly shook her head before she pulled him even closer and whispered, "What will they do? Are you... how much trouble are you in, Peter."

He blinked. His eyes shifted to Happy for just a moment before he looked down onto the ground again. "I... I don't know."

He took a deep breath and let go of her then turned back towards the platform. Strange and Barton still stood tall on top of it, but Natasha Romanoff had jumped off the other side. Peter couldn't really see much of her. Her short frame was almost completely obstructed from view by Dr. Banner's large arms wrapped around her. Rogers stood next to them, one hand resting on her back, his eyes unfocused.

Peter squeezed his aunt's hand tightly. "I think... I think I'll be okay."

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_(author's note: Thank you all for the comments, favs, and your patience. _ _We're almost at the end now. There's still a bit of an epilogue to come. I do hope you enjoyed the ride and maybe this story helped with all the Endgame trauma. I certainly had a blast with it ;D )_


	9. Chapter 9 - Tony's Epilogue

**Tony's Epilogue**

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_(author's note: The story comes to a conclusion with the return of the Stones and Tony beginning to digest what they went though, told from Tony's POV.)_

* * *

Tony would have been fine if he never had to see that damn platform ever again. Or the stones. Or _any _of that magical mambo jumbo, really. It had been four days. 96 hours, give or take. He still hadn't managed to shake the weirdness of it all, getting credit for something another dimensional _him _had done. Or figured out how to function in this new role—not the protector anymore, but the protected. He wasn't to be risked again. They had made that quite clear. Pepper and Peter. Happy and Rhodey. Not even for this last challenge, returning the Stones. Hell, even May told him she'd tie up him in the damn basement before she'd see him jump through that portal again and it wasn't easy to keep the inappropriate jokes that hit him at the thought of that to himself. This wasn't a joking matter, he knew that. And he was pretty sure, that her concern lay mostly with Peter, not with him. He saw their point, but sitting this one out wouldn't have been his first choice. It was a part of bringing this quest to an end and by right he should be at the center of making it happen. Bur nobody had stood for the mere discussion to include him on that particular mission. And... well, thank goodness. Instead, he had spent every second since his arrival with his family and the kid. Nothing else mattered in the end. Only they mattered.

His former self's death had left them broken, frayed and wounded. Pepper. Morgan. Peter, too. Coming back for their sake had been the right thing to do. He knew that now. Happy broke down in tears when he turned up at the house; Rhodey outright fainted at the sight of him. Who could blame them? All of this was just as surreal to all of them as it was to him. Their gazes often lingered on him for a fraction too long, their touches lasted a few more seconds than he was accustomed to, their hugs were closer, deeper. They all were still reassuring themselves that he was indeed back. None of them had really processed what had happened yet. Nor had he. The consequence was clear. He would not, could not, go and jump in front of the canons again. Not for a long time. Maybe not ever again.

For the first time in more than a decade, he wouldn't be in the front line, wouldn't spearhead the mission to save the planet. However, that didn't mean he wouldn't support the team. That part was non-negotiable. He'd do what he can. Research the Stones, their history, their basic makeup. He'd help protect the Universe, stand by the team. Strange's whole thing had been that the Universe still needed him. Well, he didn't know about that, but he'd do what he could. So, there he was, right next to that damn Quantum Realm tunnel. At least he wasn't alone.

The team should stand united for this one last step and all of them had turned up. The first thing he did was to stride up to Natasha, pull her into a hug, and hold her close for a solid minute.

"Had to steal my thunder with the Stones, didn't you," she said when he let go of her.

"Shut up, Nat. I'm really happy you're not dead."

She shrugged. "Well, technically I am, right? Or at least that other me is." She shook her head. "This is all really messed up."

He snorted. "Tell me about it. How close did Clint come to putting an arrow through his other-dimensional self?"

She sighed deeply. "You have no idea."

"Well, I don't blame him. I thought I was going to have a heart attack on the spot myself."

"That would have kind of defeated the original purpose of the trip, so I'm glad you pulled through." Her eyes wandered past him to where Peter was hovering close to Pepper and Morgan. "Who'd have thought the kid had it in him."

"I did." He said it without hesitation, without a shred of doubt, eyes prickling with pride. Nat nodded, her smile deepening, and he gave her another quick hug before walking over to Bruce.

After everything that had happened, there was still a fair amount of splintering going on. While Bruce worked at the platform's control panel, Rhodey and Happy sat in the shade on a picnic blanket May had brought along with snacks and some shockingly tasty cake. He wouldn't be surprised if that was an attempt to make the team forget about the kid's kamikaze quest. In fact, he was pretty sure it was exactly that, however unnecessary. Strange had been right. Nat's rescue had taken an enormous amount of heat off the situation. He tried not to have his feelings hurt by that. It wasn't personal. He knew that. At least, it meant that the team had been ready to listen. So, they had talked. They had explained. Peter and Strange mostly. It had somehow felt wrong that he would argue his own case of... well... coming back to life. Maybe that was part of his problem, but whatcha gonna do...

So, the kid and the wizard had explained how they had picked him up and then turned back time and how things were fine and how there was nothing to worry about. It seemed like an easy fix, a loophole and it was. In a way. It was also a highly complex tangle of cosmic rules that requiring an extremely specific set of magic super skills to pull off. But it was what it was and the team had... Well, after Bruce had spent 2 days straight reading Strange's books and running simulations on Tony's model, they had come around, accepted Peter and Strange's reasoning. And while that didn't magically turn them all into a happy family, all that was left was for them to heal now. The trust would grow back. With time.

Lang had turned up as well, standing a bit too plainly at a distance. He had introduced Tony to Hope. They had decided to stick around for this last part of the quest but there was an undeniable restlessness in both of them, a need to get back home to the West Coast. They weren't the only ones itching to leave. Nebula hadn't officially shown her face, but she was hovering somewhere among the trees. Peter had pointed her out to him, but try as he might he couldn't see her. Must be the kid's ridiculously enhanced senses and hopefully not just Tony's eyesight bidding him goodbye.

Of his band of merry conspirators that had given him this second shot, only Strange was missing. The wizard apparently had other things to do. Some other chores, consequential to the fate of the Universe for sure. Tony gnawed on his lip and rolled his eyes at himself. Actually, that was probably exactly what the Sorcerer Supreme was doing. No reason for Super Hero Envy, Stark.

He stepped up close to Bruce, still at a safe distance from the platform. Somewhere along the line, it had been decided that Rogers would return the Stones. On his own. Well. Of course, that seemed a little— He gave his head a little shake. He wasn't going to get in the middle of that. The team had made that decision so that was that. He was close enough to look over Banner's shoulder, to check the progress. _Nope_. He wouldn't do that. He would not check the variables on the display. He was here for emotional support only. For the team. For whoever would need it.

Bruce mumbled to himself, the string of vocalized thoughts interrupted by the clattering of keyboard keys and beeps from the platform's control panel. On the platform, Rogers talked to Wilson and Barnes. Maximoff was sat in the grass close by with Clint walking back and forth right next to her mimicking what looked like archery maneuvers. Well, of course, he would be. The air held the familiar vibe of pre-mission tension, this odd mix of anticipation, fear, and determination. Sure, it was different. Not the same weight of desperation and despair. The stakes were different. And yet, there seemed to be more. Maybe it was just his half relaxed, half exhausted state, now that the euphoria of seeing Nat simmered down. Maybe it was something else, something he couldn't quite put his finger on, but the longer he stood there, the clearer it became. Something wasn't quite right...

Rogers had finished hugging his friends and paced the circle nervously. Wilson and Barnes descended, hurling their usual snark at each other and Nat jumped up onto the platform instead. He gathered her into a particularly lingering embrace, lingering even for the whole coming-back-to-life business. When she finally joined the others on the sidelines, Tony's eyes stayed on the Captain. He seemed suddenly distant and withdrawn as if he was a mere observer of the group. Wilson, unaware of Cap's mood, dashed out some friendly insults at him. Cap didn't engage but the faintest smile tugged at his lips.

Tony frowned. When Rogers turned to look towards Bruce, his eyes found Tony instead. The small smile froze for a moment before disappearing altogether. Instead, Cap pursed his lips, the corner of his mouth curled up into a smirk, that seemed almost resigned before he nodded curtly at him. His eyes stayed with Tony for only a moment, then slid away again and back over to his friends.

A split-second eye contact instead of the lingering gaze he was now accustomed to. Fine, it was Cap. Cap liked to hold onto his... Yeah, no. Something was definitely off.

"Banner, I'll need a second. Hold off on that power button a bit longer, would you?" He didn't wait for an answer. He ignored the flustered gazes of Wilson and Barnes and Natasha's call too. When he jumped up onto the platform, Rogers turned to him.

"Tony?" he asked, a slight frown on his face.

Tony scanned the group waiting below. The kid, surprised by his sudden jump into action, had taken a couple of nervous steps towards them but Pepper and May were having none of it. They called Peter back and when Tony shot him a smile and a quick wave, he went back to sit in the grass next to Pepper and Morgan. Everyone else was well out of earshot, too. Tony still stepped a little closer to Rogers.

"What's going on, Cap?"

"I...I don't know what you mean." Cap shook his head, blinking at him.

Pathetic pokerface. But then again, Rogers had never been a good liar.

Tony raised his eyebrows. "Yeah, something is up. You can tell me now or—," he looked over to Wilson and Barnes, "we'll discuss this in a larger group?"

"No! Wait!"

Cap looked right at him, grating his teeth. Whatever was up, he had not planned on telling anyone, least of all Tony. He might have gotten away with it if he hadn't hugged Nat for so long…

"I... it might be some time before we see each other," Cap said, his voice still hardly above a whisper.

Some time? Tony shook his head. "It takes 10 seconds, Cap. Even if things weren't to run quite as smoothly as is to be expected. It doesn't matter on our end. Here, it's still the same—oh." He narrowed his eyes on Rogers. "Wait, what the fuck are you saying?"

Cap's eyes slipped from his again and fixed on something invisible in mid-air. He sighed. "Loki once called me a _man out of time_. He was right. I don't belong here. I never did. Now, I get a shot at fixing that… make it right."

"Yeah, you stop right there and get Reindeer Games out of your head. You hear me, Cap?"

Roger's looked right at him, eyes steady and determined now. Damn! He was serious!

Tony grabbed his arm as if close contact would lend his words more weight. "Listen, Steve, I don't know what's going on in that head of yours—I rarely do—but this is lunacy. What do you wanna do? Go back to the 40s and pop up, pretending you got out of the ice on your own? Leave the other you as an eternal Capsicle while you sit by the fire site 'til Peggy gets home from work? That isn't you."

He could feel Cap's muscles flex in his grip. The man bit his lip and closed his eyes, eyelids fluttering. "I saw her. In the Shield facility in 1970. I... I was so close." He opened his eyes, breathing heavily and were those tears in his eyes? "Hydra... Red Skull... they stole the future we had together. I don't care, even if I have to live in hiding, I'd still have her." He drew a sharp breath. "If it were Pepper you'd do the same thing, Tony! You did the same thing!"

"I've had Pepper in my life for_ 20 years_. She's my wife. We have a daughter! You've seen Peggy from time to time on a few missions stretched out over a couple of years about eight decades ago. Come on, Cap. It's not the same thing. You liked her. You had a crush on her, but—"

"I loved her! I still do!" Rogers stepped closer to him, urgency in his low voice now. "I can help us, help them. I know what is supposed to happen. I could do so much good. Stop Hydra from infiltrating SHIELD. Save Bucky from what they did to him and..." He looked away for a moment. "and from what they made him do. Keep Nat out of the Red Room. Even Thanos! I know what he'll do." His gaze fully focused on Tony now. "I... I could prevent all that chaos. Peggy will help me. We could make a better world."

Tony stared at him. He opened his mouth but found no words. This was insane. He would have never expected that much bullshit from anyone on the team, least of all Rogers. He swallowed and stepped even closer to him, his hand still on the other man's arm. Careful and with as much emphasis as possible, he said, "That's _not _how it works, Steve. I know it. You know it. Please don't insult either of us by pretending otherwise. If you do that, there's no telling what that shift causes. There's no telling if things happen in any way like they did for this dimension. Hydra. Thanos. Peggy. Barnes." He clenched his fists to keep himself focussed. "All of it. Hell, you show up and marry her, my always-a-bachelor single-focus son-of-a-bitch father might think his mission's complete decades earlier and just marries someone else. What the hell is the world gonna do if I'm never born?"

Tony arched his brows at him, his lips tilting up in a suggestive smirk. He wasn't really kidding though. There was no telling what a 2023 Rogers living in the 1940s or 50s would do to that timeline. How could they even begin to speculate what would happen after that? Chances were things would turn out disastrous as he would try to meddle. Rogers shook his head, not appreciating the comment at all. He turned to look away. A quick glance confirmed that Cap's eyes were resting on Tony's wife and kids.

Then Rogers turned back to him, his face struck with anger and frustration that pierced Tony with a shocking familiarity. A jolt went through him, the sudden feeling of nakedness without the suit as a buffer between them. He had to force himself not to try and put some distance between himself and the Captain. "You're one to talk. You're here, are you not? What about that timeline you messed up?"

He looked at Rogers, eyes wide, trying to remember how to breathe. "There is no rogue timeline for me, Cap. Strange used the Time Stone to reverse time back to before anything could have changed anyone's actions in that particular timeline. They... The kid found a loophole. And I'm grateful to him because I wasn't done. I have so much more life left to live right here. But I wouldn't have done it without the reassurance that my actions wouldn't affect a whole dimension in a way I couldn't even begin to know." He shook his head, fixing him with a stare. "You are a different man now, Steve. You belong here. You'd be out of time over there just as much as you felt the first day here. You've lived here in _this_ time, with these people most of your adult life!"

Rogers shook his head again. He shuffled from one foot to the other, eyes avoiding Tony's, but Tony wasn't done. He reached for the man's arm almost as if he could hold him in their time, in this reality, all on his own. "Steve, listen to me. You have a life here. You have friends here and maybe if you finally accept that you belong here, you can have all that what you think you could have had with Peggy. Peggy already has a husband she is meant to be with. Children. A life."

Tony tightened his grip on Rogers' arm, pulled at it to force the other man to look at him.

"I know... I know it's easy for me to talk, being here after I chose to die. I got lucky. But at the end of the day, I'm not here for me. I'm here for them. They need me and I'd do anything for them."

Steve still avoided his gaze, hands balled up into fists. The mood around them was growing restless. A quick scan of the people around the platform revealed many narrowed eyes and crossed arms. Cap's friends now actively looked to catch the man's attention, seeking permission to intervene and break up whatever their argument was. Tony was almost out of time with this. "Steve, what you want to do, going back to the past to fix things... that's not you. You're the guy who stands by his dumb-ass choices. The guy who persists. Who keeps at it, till things turn out alright." Tony bit his lip, as he searched Rogers face for a reaction. "Peggy has a family. Bucky is right here. Nat is _right here_. Sam and... and Wanda, they—" He cleared his throat. "This dimension right _here_ needs you, too. There's so much left to fix. Leaving to potentially fix things in another dimension means abandoning this one. And that's not you, Cap."

"Hey Steve, you alright, man?" Wilson had stepped up to the very edge of the platform.

Tony dropped his hold of the Captain's arm. He took a step back, his eyes still intently on the man in front of him. There was no telling. Maybe, maybe he should stop this. Stop him from making this big of a mistake. This impactful of a mistake. His eyes flickered over to Wilson, then to his own feet. Steve was his own man. He had the right to make his own choices and to live with the consequences, just as Tony had done.

Rogers pursed his lips and nodded without another look at him, before he gave a quick wave in Wilson's direction.

"Tony, you done?" Bruce looked up at the two of them expectantly, distinct wariness swinging in this voice.

Tony simply jumped off the other side of the platform and headed straight for his family. 10 seconds. That's all the time this journey would take on their end. He quickly kissed his wife and picked up their little girl. He held Morgan close while they watched on. Peter had gotten to his feet during Tony's squabble with Steve but with Tony back by his side, he sat down again. Their eyes met as Tony bent down and ruffled his hand through the boy's hair.

"You think he'll do it?" Peter whispered.

Tony shrugged. Those damn enhanced senses. "It's not up to us, kid." He turned back, eyes on the Captain up on that platform about 30 yards away from them. "Pep, darling, remind me that we need to reinforce the soundproofing in the walls of our house, especially the rooms upstairs before Peter is allowed to stay overnight again."

Pepper only rolled her eyes but Tony jerked as Peter lightly slap his leg. "Ew! Gross, Mr. Stark!"

He chuckled and Morgan squirmed a bit in the tight hold of his arms. "Why does the house need soundproofing, daddy?"

He looked at her, his face a mask of innocence. "Peter's hearing is really good and your Mommy likes to swear a lot when she thinks people aren't listening. Especially when she's alone with Daddy."

He got slapped from both his wife and his Spider-Kid for that one.

"Seriously, Tony..."

"Mr. Stark..!"

Tony giggled and his girl followed suit. God, he loved that girl. He buried his face in Morgan's locks, kissed the top of her head. On the other side of the clearing, Banner had just handed the Stones to Rogers and made the last adjustments. It was time.

"Maybe you could reinforce the walls of our apartment as well, Mr. Stark..."

Tony's mind was torn away from the platform and he frowned down at Peter before he followed the boys glance over to May and Happy.

Morgan had apparently done the same. "Does May swear a lot as well?"

Tony bit his lip but couldn't suppress a snort. Peter threw his hands up and covered the red flush on his face. "I really don't want to find out!"

Morgan looked at him then at Tony, trying to make sense of what they were talking about.

"Seriously, boys." Pepper glared at both of them. "Is this really the time and place?"

Tony set Morgan down. No sooner had he let go of her that she crawled over to Peter and onto his lab. The boy's arms wrapped around her small frame with a naturalness like he hadn't missed the first 4 years of her life. Like it wasn't a miracle that Tony got to see them like this, like family. Pepper's hand found his and it was almost painful to look away from the two kids. His two kids. The content twinkle in his wife's eyes was soothing enough though. His hands went up to cup her face and he pulled her close, kissing her deeply. He really had expected her to push him off. Pepper had never been in favor of public displays of affection, but she only pulled him closer, her body solidly pressed against his and when they broke away from each other he rested his forehead against her's.

"No time like the present, Mrs. Stark."

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. For a moment he was afraid that he'd made her cry again. But Pepper grabbed hold of his shirt and pulled flush against herself, kissing him as if it would be the last time she would have the chance to hold him. His heart dropped to his stomach like a heavy stone as the reality of the situation rolled over him. She had been there. She had kissed him for the last time, had held him for the last time. He had been lost to her forever. No hypotheticals about it. Even though he had no memory of it, because it wasn't _him_ who'd done this to her. He'd still done this _to _her_._

God, that n-dimensional mindfuck of a multiverse would take a while to work through. Not just for them. Their whole universe was reeling under the un-snapping. The sudden increase in the population. Over 3,5 billion people added with the snap of Bruce's finger. 5 years they had made due and now that the battle was won, they still had a hell of a lot to fix. He might never put on the suit again to fight some evil monsters but there was still a whole lot for him to help with.

He deepened the kiss, made himself feel as alive to her as possible. He'd make this up to her. To his family. Both him and Pepper were slightly panting when they broke apart. Tony's hand ran through her strawberry blond hair, before he hugged her close to his side, arms entangled around each other. Her hands softly squeezed his arms while her head rested on his collarbone. As they both looked back over to the platform, Captain America disappeared with the flip of a switch.

10

9

8

Tony's eyes wandered down to Peter, Morgan still in his lap, leaning against his chest. He met Tony's eyes, his face tense in anticipation.

5

4

3

Tony shrugged, nodding his head at him. "We'll be alright, kid."

As Morgan struggled to get up and pointed at the platform, both their heads shot around to look.

"There he is again!"

He could feel Pepper's hand squeeze his arms and felt a load taken off his soul.

They watched as Wilson and Barnes jumped up onto the platform, clapping Rogers' shoulder, joking around about how much he'd aged.

Tony took a deep breath and called out to him. "Good to have you back, Cap!"

Rogers turned, looking straight at him. He gave a curt nod before calling back. "Til the end of the line, Tony!"

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_(author's note: Guys, let me just say thank you for reading and commenting and favoriting the story. I had a great time figuring out how this would go._

_If you liked this story and are in need of more Peter/Tony centric stuff to read, I do have a__ story that is my main focus again from now on, an AU tale of Tony and Peter's lives, set post-Ultron, heavy on IronDad/SpiderSon, called If They Knew All About Me. You can find it on my profile.  
_

_Thank you all again.)_


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